Team MSNR
by The Swordslinger
Summary: Challenge and a fic: Having Naruto and three characters from other franchises being a team at Beacon. Rules and story inside. Here we have Maka Albarn from Soul Eater, Shinji Ikari from Evangelion, Naruto Uzumaki from NARUTO, and Ryuuko Matoi from Kill LA Kill forming perhaps the craziest idea for a team I ever had. Pairings are undecided.
1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING

**Challenge rules**: Your challenge is to make a crossover with RWBY and Naruto with three more franchises, having one character from each franchise be a member of Naruto's team. And here are the rules for this challenge:

1. You shall bring Naruto and another three characters of different franchises and put them together in the universe of RWBY as a team.

2. Naruto doesn't need to be the leader, and him and his teammates must get an equal treatment.

3. Please don't over power your characters. But character development is more than welcomed.

4. Pairings are optional.

5. Alternate their worlds to fit with RWBY's, so yes, make them AU's. And make sure to have fun.

6. Due to RWBY still having only one season by the time I will post this chapter, you are free to take the plot wherever you are. It's what I'll do here.

7. Last but not least, contact me via PM to tell me about your fic so I can have fun reading it.

**Team MSNR's (Missioner) cast**:

-Maka Albarn - Leader and strategist.

Age: 15

A remarkable scythe user with overachiever issues.

-Shinji Ikari - Marksman, and medic.

Age: 17

A cowardly sniper with confidence issues.

-Naruto Uzumaki - Tank and demolitionist.

Age: 17

A Fauna and human hybrid martial artist with trust and many other social issues.

-Ryuuko Matoi - Scout and sex symb- *THWACK!* Ow...

Age: 17

A drifter girl with mastery of the blade, and a natural breast size of- *Wham!* ouch...

**XXXXXX**

Not exactly functional

"W-Why me?!"

In the middle of an old club, several of its patrons, rather gangsters acting as patrons to get some communication and deals done, were surrounding their unwanted intruder. As soon as the newcomer was discovered, all of them brandished red swords or guns of their own and chased after the one youth just ran off. Yes, it was a child, no older than seventeen, running for his life until he found some relative safety in their storage room by jumping over the guards with insane speed because of his fear, using their heads as steps to dive behind the crates and hide behind.

He sighed, until his wrist beeped to life, "You alive in there?! Man, was I worried you'd be caught by now! How're you doi-"

"Sh!" he hushed the watch communicator he had installed with a finger to his lips, making the chirpy, cheerful female voice on the other side halt its tirade of happiness at the distressed youth when its beautiful purple haired owner noticed a light shining down on her charge.

The youth instantly jumped out of the way and rolled to a halt with some pain because of his weapon. It showed a figure clad in gray slacks with stitched on pouches, a blue jacket with elbow-length sleeves, and a black vest that hugged a skinny torso, with a special holster for a knife on his right breast and a bandolier hanging from his right shoulder to his left hip. He was a small, skinny and terrified boy with short brown hair holding an automatic customized rifle, a rather featureless gun which had a perfectly rectangular shape designed after an MP5 with a rather special ammo: fire Dust.

He held his weapon carefully with practiced mastery and aimed at whoever could've found him, but sighed in relief when no-one appeared, and he now realized they had turned on the lights to find him better.

He tried to scold at the communicator on his wrist but his voice came as a moan of despair, "Misato-san, I had already been discovered, one of the thugs recognized me from that time I was supposed to help Asuka-san carry the Dust." He all but harshly whispered to the woman with long purple hair and a red jacket that was on the screen of his watch.

The purple head snapped her fingers, "Damn it, I thought they'd ignore such a simple if cute face like yours. Sorry to say it this way, but your mug is kind of unimpressive and the perfect kind to blend with others to avoid looking special."

To those words the boy's head hit a crate on purpose to try to dull the pain of those words, which quickly alerted the thugs who now found him, "Oh crap..." mumbled a young Shinji Ikari as he put his rifle on his back with the leash on his left shoulder and around his torso keeping it from falling as he ran from a few bullets. Once he was out of firing range he rolled on the floor, laid face down, and took aim. "I can do it..." he whispered as a mantra and soon three blades were broken with consecutive fire shots. The boy nodded to himself and ran off, glad he hadn't killed anyone.

He was a special case and his guardian knew how and why. After his mother had divorced his father, a corrupt bastard with too much authority, the boy had done his best to adapt himself to a new life without his father's shadow looming over him. But then tragedy struck and his father returned looking for him, saying he was important, and he was only stopped when someone took down the man the instant the kid's father took out a knife to threaten his own son. Due to that, the man was thrown in jail and thoroughly investigated and the results showed he was a womanizer, a true scumbag, and that he wasn't even worthy of living. So he was rotting in a max security cell.

From that day forward the boy wanted to become a huntsman, and right now he was proving he had the talent and untapped potential of one, which a not so law-abiding huntress decided to take as her chance to have someone under her wing, read "have the kid make her every meal and help her with hangovers", and perhaps settle down, read "have fun with the kid". So he learned knife combat, marksmanship, and was allowed to have a pretty good relationship with his mother and a real friend thanks to the huntress who saved his life and who took him in.

Misato was the name of her mentor, and savior. Needless to say, Shinji was grateful to her, and for that he used his abilities to his best. Misato was a bit angry for he used a rifle while she preferred dual-wielding guns like a crazy, but since the kid showed that his cowardice was used to make him more intelligent so he stayed alive and avoided getting killed while thinking ways to take down his enemies with the purpose to take the danger out as he fought with her combat training shining in a new and much more thought-out fashion, she was happy.

He, for his part, was not as much as a random thug jumped out of a corner with a sword. The boy put aside his assault rifle and parried the strike with his knife, moving the larger blade down before backhanding the man with a cry of power and horror mixed in from the surprise and fear of death. Just as the man turned to him, Shinji sliced his cheek to throw him off and then kicked him in the chest, taking out his breath and consciousness.

"You're doing great, boy! You're making me proud!"

"P-Please speak lower! I don't want to be dead because of the- huh?"

His ranting stopped as he heard several cries and the sound of something sharp cut the air. The boy slowly turned to see a shadow standing in the center of the mauled thugs who were out like a light, and soon the newcomer was gone with a high jump.

"Who, or what, was that?" the purple head asked.

"Beats me." the youth replied before smiling, "But it means I can get out alive. I'll call the cops and get back home."

"Oh yeah! We're having pizza tonight!" Misato cheered through the wrist-communicator, pumping a fist up.

Shinji deadpanned at the image, "You remembered to buy groceries, right?"

Now the grin of the woman turned nervous. "Um... uh..."

He sighed defeated, "Ah, okay, I'll pass by the store."

She beamed, remembering why she loved having him around, "Thanks! You're the best roommate-disciple ever!"

He turned away, mumbling miserably, "More like a slave boy..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Good boy."

XXXXXX

As Shinji left the warehouse, on top of the building stood a lone figure with their cloak flowing in the wind. Said figure sighed, pulled out a cell phone and dialed a special number, "Honestly, these jobs are getting really easy. I wonder if I'm actually becoming too strong or just nothing can faze me anymore." The figure waited for the phone to connect, jumping to one edge of the roof and keeping its balance with practiced ease.

Once on top, the light of the moon and some lights from the city below her feet showed the form of who had saved Shinji. It was a blonde girl, a petite young lady whose body had yet to bloom but who was still far too cute to not look at. Her ashy hair was done in pigtails, and her green eyes were large and curious for information. What little curves she had they made her small breasts and round bottom rather perky. She was clad in a sailor uniform with a red miniskirt with black leggings, brown shoes, a yellow vest, a white blouse, and a large black cloak with white gloves, which made it easier to carry her weapon. She looked at it, and with a click of a button the massive scythe she carried on her shoulder folded itself into a small steel briefcase.

A prodigy, check. A genius who could master moves in mere days with enough training and patience, double check. A nostalgic in this moment, check too. The girl sighed as she looked at the briefcase and set it down to listen to the rings of her phone, until a voice answered her, "Yo, Maka. How're you doing?"

The girl smiled, "It's been a while since I've called you. How're things with the others?"

"We're all missing you."

"Hehe... I know, Soul, but I decided to do this on my own. After all, I wanted actual challenges and to test myself Beacon seemed like a good place so I can rely on myself more."

"Still, joining another school? Geesh, you're a real nerd."

"Hey!" she shouted, but her old friend's chuckle made her calm down.

"Sorry, but seriously, you will be far above these guys' levels while being two years younger. Why not save them the humiliation?"

She smiled, "Beacon has students as skilled or perhaps even more than Black Star when it comes to combat, and certainly some of them could be very good to see if I'm strong. I joined because I wanted to be on that level, and to surpass my limits. Otherwise, I guess I'd have too much time on my hands, and I'd get bored. So, how are the others?"

"Blair misses playing with you and your belly rubs, Black Star's still a numbskull but gets nagged by Angela and Mifune to be more responsible, Tsubaki's doing great in becoming more confident, Kidd is being... well Kidd, Liz is trying to keep him from forcing everyone to be symmetrical at school which makes me envious to not go with you, and Patty... beats me, she's definitely in a world, no, universe of her own."

The girl looked into the broken moon of Vale with a smile, "I see... Heh, well, the city here is far more impressive than our own. It's much cleaner but… kind of sad to look at in a strange way."

"Are you getting romantic all of a sudden? Man, that'd help you be cooler. So, is there any other reason you wanted to call me?"

The girl smiled, "Just making sure all of you were happy. I've had some fun, I even got to do a few jobs on my own after Kidd helped me get in Beacon. I've hunted some monsters, faced some gangsters who had the potential to become real monsters, and right now I saw a cowardly boy around my age or perhaps a bit older using an assault rifle on gangsters to destroy their weapons while running without getting hit."

"Whew, slow down. I get it, Vale's cool, you're cool, so try to enjoy anything else that is cool there. We'll meet with you in a few months once that big thing happens. Hope the food's as good as they say."

Maka Albarn said her goodbyes and smiled as she looked once again into the city bathed by the light of the moon. It had been a few months since she had started to wonder if she could really fight without her partner and carry her weight better. She wanted to improve herself, and when listening about Beacon making powerful fighters that could match the elite of her school, she was there in a skip. The ever nerdy girl wanted to know, experience, and enjoy everything she could in a new environment. She would have the problem of the age difference between her and who would be her future peers, but due to her skill she was allowed to skip grades. Needless to say, Prof. Ozpin, a friend of Lord Death, had been just as curious and intrigued about her skills like she was of his school.

She remembered meeting the man, he was... odd, to say the least. Mysterious and hard to get around with, but he seemed like a good guy, with something troubling him. She knew to stay on her toes around people who could be hiding their true intentions, thanks to her eyes and senses to see the auras of others, but for now she wanted to become stronger and Beacon was the ticket.

"I hope there's more than a good challenge there." She pulled from her pocket a picture of her friends with her. She looked at the moon, "I'll make new friends too, I guess. The others wouldn't want me to be lonely." She smiled and pocketed it, ready to head back home.

And just as she arrived on the streets with a jump and walked while keeping her new foldable scythe with her, she heard something weird. She turned around and certainly there was something off, some strange guy stood by the sidewalk, leaning on a lamp post and, to her shock, was eyeing her with a smirk. He winked, making her blush and walk off with indignation on her face.

XXXXXX

The guy chuckled, "Man, that was cold. Well, humans are humans and all that jazz, so why do I bother?" He turned and walked back into his alley, "Wonder why all of them are such a pain, though."

After watching the petite blonde girl go back home and the brunet boy call the police - who arrived shortly - so he could buy some groceries, the figure who watched it all sighed. Rubbing the back of their head, the witness decided to do what he had been doing before finding both the strangers, wander off aimlessly. But he couldn't help but smile at the blonde girl, she was incredibly cute. He did want to follow her like some stalker and ask her out; he wanted just to start anew away from others.

Passing on the sidewalk, a lamp post illuminated him. He was tall, blond, with an actually handsome face and obviously physically stronger than the average guy. He was built with the physique of a true fighter which bulk could be seen through his clothes, his cerulean eyes shone with a mischievous glint typical of a fox but with a hardened stare, and his whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks added a strange contrast to his gruff appearance. He wore only reddish orange hakama pants, a black muscle shirt that hugged his torso, and a red sash. He had no shoes, only some bandages covering his hands and feet. And on his forehead was a long, black headband that flowed tp his mid-back, with his spiky hair kept from his eyes, falling back like a fox's mane. But it also showed the two tufts on top of his head, signaling what he was… a Faunus.

He slung a simple traveling bag on his shoulder and walked off, through the streets with no fear at all despite the looks and the whispers. How he hated the whispers... Anyone who watched him stared in either wonder or puzzlement at his appearance, some of those damn humans even pointed at him while whispering. The young man for his part didn't care for their thoughts and kept on walking through more streets until he reached a different, far off area.

Trees passed by his eyes, the dirt on his feet was ignored with each crunch under his bare feet, and the silence around him interrupted by the occasional gale of wind was actually welcomed. Soon the blond Faunus stood before some small rocky structures and set down his school suitcase beside him. He sat down on his knees, reached into his bag, and pulled out incense. He stared blankly at the tombs before him, one having the picture of a beautiful redhead woman with long hair, another of a man with a wilder mane of the same hair he had and identical ears.

He smiled at a memory, an elder man with harsh eyes, bushy brows, and long hair standing before a much younger and smaller version of the young martial artist teaching the boy how to punch through a log. Determined tears ran down the kid's eyes as his knuckles bled until, with a roar, he turned the log before him into splinters. He could just close his eyes and remember the smile the old man had before he passed away many years later.

Now the boy had grown and was a strong man with much to tell his family, "I've gotten a change to get enrolled at Beacon. I'll be there to show anyone that it doesn't matter how I was born… You two at least cared enough to have me." He sighed and looked up, the night's sky comforting him a bit, "I… honestly didn't want to care of how or why I was born, or what had me train with the old fart but… I've grown stronger, and next time we meet, I'll be the strongest huntsman out there so all humans and Fauna out there respect me, ok? That's a promise."

He then stood up and scratched the back of his head, he wasn't sure how to do things like this, he had barely known a damn thing other than the art of fighting. That was the only thing he was good at, and what he prided himself. It was also what'd make him make people stop whispering bad things about how he was born. With that thought in mind, he turned around and walked off.

XXXXXX

But a few ways from him, watching as the blond hybrid left the graves of his family, a small chuckle could be heard in a much less comfortable but still somewhat heartfelt reunion in another grave. A lone teenage girl around the fox boy's age sighed inwardly as she crushed the empty soda can in her hands and turned to the grave of an old man. She didn't bow, sit, or even bring anything for it. All the girl did was stand up and stare at the picture of a bizarre old man with a long beard. Her lips curled not in a sad expression but in a frown as she looked not with anger but with determination at the picture before her. Without a word she turned, but as she did so, she gritted her teeth and turned back.

She tried to turn and leave, but soon forced herself back to face the grave. This pattern repeated itself until she finally let out a frustrated sigh, threw her soda can in a trash can yards away, and faced the grave with a scowl on her face. The girl stood tall and proud, though she wasn't tall, in fact she was rather short. She had short black hair with a red streak between her azure eyes moving to her left, a tomboyish harsh face that didn't take off any charm and actually added beauty in a strange warrior-way, and she had a nice body too.

Her outfit consisted of a black school jacket with a red short and ragged scarf, a red fingerless glove on her left hand, a white blouse, a black skirt, and red and white sneakers. But what one could notice the more was the large rectangular case on her back that held a massive pair of crimson scissors the size of a broadsword each, designed like tailor scissors but made so they could be split apart and used as cutlasses. She had them slung on her back, but easily drew them out and then stabbed the ground before the grave with them.

"You made these, didn't you?" she asked the grave, a slight drawl to her voice, sounding more irritated than anything, as if a fly had landed on her soup, "I know little about you, you call me and this happens... I'd like to know why, but first I want to know who you are. You were never a good father, in fact you kinda sucked at it, but... You gave me life, you did give me money to raise me and even had me at home sometimes before all of this shit happened so I don't want to think badly of you... I just wish we could've known each other..."

And then she put the scissors in the guitar case which she slung on her right shoulder. She felt like she should have stayed longer and spoken more to the grave, as if it could link her to the soul of her father, but Ryuuko Matoi knew that was impossible. All she knew was that a giant conglomerate had targeted her father's work, that the weapons that laid by his side when she found him dead were part of everything, and that he developed something in the glove he gave her with his last breath, the same glove she had on. She tried to inspect the glove but all she found was a mechanism to draw out blood. The girl wasn't sure what it was for, but it could be too dangerous to use... but she believed in something.

A memory flashed by her, a smile seen through a thick beard as bloody hands reached to her, and kind words reached her ears, "Sorry... for missing this day... Happy birthday, Ryuuko..." and in the box was the red scarf she currently had and cherished. She then looked at the glove, and saw the words written in it.

"Senketsu..." she said, knowing something was in there, "Whatever you may be, stupid glove or not, my father died to try to protect you... Now I've gotta find what the big wigs and queen bees at Beacon are on to want to kill my father for you." She said, sure that the Dust couldn't hear her, but speaking to it made her feel at ease for some reason.

Ryuuko Matoi knew many things didn't make sense, but one thing was for sure. Beacon had some big names in its student body, and some of them had answers she wanted.

But, unknown to her, a heartbeat in her hand, one she had yet to reach, "Ryuuko..." the voice inside the glove spoke, the Dust pulsing with life, waiting for her blood.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap! Sorry if this seems rather rushed but I wanted to set things quickly.**

**Maka, like Ruby, skipped two years due to her notes and also uses a foldable scythe, but without the sniper rifle. Shinji is still cowardly but is determined to try to grow some balls, and is a good marksman. Naruto dislikes both humans and Fauna alike due to him being a hybrid, but due to his training with a kind human (AU Hashirama) he will try to be friendlier, if still acting like an asshole. Ryuuko has kind of the same backstory as in her franchise, with the difference that Satsuki doesn't rule the school she goes at.**

**And yes, there will be more than cameos from the characters of each of their franchises. I mean, I gotta have enemies moving the plot, right?**

**As for pairings here... Well, I got nothing in concrete on some parts. But a side of me is laughing at the idea of pairing Maka with Naruto and Shinji with Ryuuko, with Shinji being the woman in that relationship because let's face it, if Ryuuko ended up with a guy she'd call the shots and force him to man up. I don't know, I haven't given it much thought, but I'll try to keep the pairings to single pairings for once.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	2. Chapter 2

I OWN NOTHING

Considering I may as well be getting nailed to a massive ship and forced to use my genitals to break icebergs by those who may not like this idea, let's keep going while the pain is dull.

**XXXXXX**

Nobody is normal

As one a little girl in what was basically a gothic Lolita black dress with a red hooded cloak known as Ruby Rose passed by Vomit Boy in the large ship, trying to get away from the other students with the only purpose to perhaps read a story, see if there were any good chocolate chip cookies in the flying machine, or there was a place to be away from these strange people, she found a strange group.

One of them was nervously darting his eyes from his weapon to the others, making Ruby gape at the skinny boy's ability to maintain a customized assault rifle like it was his natural talent. It was like watching a machine assemble another, and despite the small assault rifle's size, the owner armed and disarmed it with insane ease. The sheer skill made Ruby wonder if one day she and her scythe could be so close as to have Ruby repair it like she had been born doing it, just like the timid boy.

"Let's see, ammo… check…" he mumbled, examining the cartridges with fire Dust before pulling out a bullet from his bandolier, which Ruby noted also had Dust but of another kind, ice. "Aim…" here he put the cartridge and in a split second was looking with the sights aimed at a cloud outside, or so anyone would think. The boy was actually aiming at a random bird that was miles away. "It's off an inch for every hundred yards." He said mechanically as he once again took the rifle apart and assembled it, doing so in less than a minute to look once again out the windows at the same bird, "Aim… check."

Ruby slowly backed away while looking in awe at the scrawny boy while he kept disassembling and reassembling his weapon. Her eyes then turned to the place where the nervous gunslinger was avoiding to look at, apparently a much more larger boy was making others feel either intimidated by his shadow boxing, or inadequate by his physique which Ruby did have to pry her eyes from.

This guy was blond and had a scowl on his face like a smile was something he only heard of in books. People started to back away from him, though not because of his Faunus heritage, but because he traded punches with an invisible opponent to let out some steam.

The blond only stopped when he noticed the attention he was getting, "Is something the matter?" he asked mid-jab, the sound of his fist sailing through the air was almost akin to a blast from a gun if shotguns could fire air. Maybe the whiskered youth didn't notice it, but the strength he was using in those punches was not normal by anyone's standards. "Is no-one going to say a thing?" Here his glare said he didn't like the way they were looking at him. Once they all looked away, he gave an annoyed, "Tch…" and returned to punching the air so hard Ruby herself could hear how it moved out of his knuckles' way.

Then the little redhead riding hood almost yelped when something hard hit the wall beside her. She jumped off the ground a few feet, startled, and turned to see a black haired girl with a red streak between her eyes looking ready to murder someone. The reason she was startled was because this girl had punched the nearby wall so hard she left an imprint. The silver eyed girl followed her gaze as she saw a group of distinguished people walking by in white uniforms.

One a blue haired spectacled boy with his jacket's collar hiding half his face and with several blue cables attached to his arms and strange pouches on his waist. There was a pinkette in a march leader's outfit completing the look of a small dress with a pink expensive-looking baton, but the weird part was the monkey skull on her top hat. The tallest of them was a green haired laidback guy with a trench coat, a bamboo sword and a green cloth eye-mask, making him look like one of those turtles from the cartoons.

And last but not least was a raven haired girl with bushy eyebrows, a regal demeanor, a permanent scowl on her face that made everyone who looked at her either step away or stare in a bit of awe at how it made her look bizarrely attractive, and a body that made Ruby feel inadequate like when she stared too much at her big sister Yang. The raven haired girl was definitely on Yang's breast league! That was something little to no soul could claim unless surgery was involved.

Then Ruby felt her breath stop when the raven haired girl's blue eyes caught the red-streaked girl's in a heated girl that lasted for the second the more regal and composed girl turned the corner, making quite a crowd look at her in either admiration or crushes, even girls. Ruby almost jumped when the girl with the guitar case passed by her side, sending off an aura of murder, and sat by the nervous gunslinger's side. Said boy blushed and returned to his gun, but when he heard the girl growl, Ruby barely held a giggle when she saw the other red haired girl blink in surprise when the boy awkwardly spoke to her.

"Umm... Hi, I'm Shinji Ikari... I guess... we'll be going to Beacon."

The girl sighed, but tried to smile, "Ryuuko Matoi."

To their surprise, the Faunus blond spoke up, "Seriously?"

Ryuuko glared at him, "I'm here mostly because an old childhood friend of mine told me of a few things, so what's your issue?"

"Sounds nice, I mean, meeting a friend." The thin boy said with a small and shy smile. He was trying real hard to make the duo not fight at all.

The blond then looked out the window with a nasty scowl, "Yeah, that sounds… nice." He started to jump on the tips of his toes and kept on throwing jabs that ripped the air, drawing the attention of a boy.

The smile Shinji had was easily wiped out as he nervously chuckled, "Hehe... Forget I said anything."

Ruby sympathized with the gunslinger and tried to back away, only to feel a gloved hand on her shoulder, "Hey there, are you lost?" a cheerful, young voice, just as young as hers, asked. Ruby turned to see a pigtailed girl who definitely had to be her age carrying...

"Is that a... a... a foldable scythe?" the redhead asked, her eyes sparkling and her mouth barely holding her drool.

"Yes, it was made by a friend of mine, a lazy guy who wants to be cool, but a good guy in the end." the ashy blonde replied with a smile, making her albino friend sneeze back home, "Anyway, I'm Maka Albarn, a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here, my name is Ruby Rose." the redhead said, reaching awkwardly for the hand of who could be her first friend. If not for the sound of...

"H-Hey, let me go!"

The two fifteen year old girls, the gunslinger, and the banchou girl turned to see the blond Faunus lifting a guy in armor by his collar singlehandedly. The blond showed once again his strength by lifting a guy in about twenty to thirty pounds of steel armor and far more in muscle. The guy was buff, and yet the blond was effortlessly carrying him singlehandedly with his other hand in his pocket.

"What did you call me?" the blond asked with venom in his voice and his eyes set in a narrowed murderous stare. The guy he was lifting had short reddish brown hair and a mace that had fallen to the ground as he tried to grip the blond Faunus' arm with both hands, failing to pry his grip from his collar.

"Ack… what do you think you're doing, you flea-bag?" the armored teen asked as he uselessly left his feet dangle in the air.

The blond Faunus' ears twitched along his right eye, his free hand tightening into a fist at the insult. But his rationality got the best of him, for if he punched a human on his way to Beacon, other humans wouldn't be happy and soon find a way to kick him out… that didn't mean he would let the guy get away with insulting him without retribution, "Tch, you're not even worth the effort." The blond said dismissively as he let the armored teen go by releasing his grip, the racist falling flat on his ass as the fox Faunus turned, walking off without paying any mind to the damned whispers.

The other teen, however, was fuming as he glared at the blond, clenching his own hand into a fist as he watched the dirty animal walk off in such dirty clothes that fit him after just attacking him. But he also knew what'd happen if he fought and why the damn beast let him go, unless he acted according to the rules, he'd be kicked out too. So he begrudgingly let the man go.

Maka frowned at the sight, "That guy did deserve a punch, Faunus aren't beasts…" she said with a hint of a growl. She then turned to Ruby to try to talk to her… only to find no-one.

The reason was simple, as soon as the confrontation ended, the redhead riding hood had smelt freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, in another far off place, some people were having a less friendly meeting. Even though they'd act like comrades, there were no real sentiments backing their empty words except for their greed and desires. This one Roman Torchwick knew as he stood before them. The orange haired criminal adjusted his bowler hat, dusted his white jacket, and moved carefully the long bangs of hair covering his right eye, all to look good before these "friends" of his.

"Well, it seems we're all here, and by that I mean you'll have to excuse Miss Fancy Shoes. She's had an earlier run with a huntress of Ozpin's, no pleasantry exchanged though." He stated as simply as a greeting while he passed by a door into a dark room and found every single one of them already there, sitting around a circular table with different levels of satisfied smiles he matched.

The first man wasn't even present, so to speak. Instead all that could be seen from him was what the camera at his room showed, a screen on the table to show his face. This man had short brown hair, and a calm demeanor while he laced his hands over his mouth, his eyes hidden behind his glasses. He didn't look good in the prison's outfit he was given, but even in jail he managed to get power he shouldn't have; he needed a shave, though. It was more than good enough for Torchwick and many other plans to have someone like him around to get some reckless plans out.

"Why do you make us waste time, Torchwick? The guards at this damned prison are beginning to doubt my little 'presents', I may need them out, permanently." One Gendo Ikari said, once a man who commanded hundreds to battle the creatures of the Grimm, now a man whose smaller crimes caught to him.

In a chair besides the screen was a tall man with freakishly long black hair, a pale face in an amused smile, a black combat suit, and red armor typical of a samurai over his body. But what called the attention to him were the cracks on his skin, like somehow he was made of paper which was crumbling by the pass of time. At his side a figure hidden in a black cloak with red cloud symbols stood silently, their face hidden by a hood. Despite the man's bizarre appearance, he had power Torchwick more than wanted for the bigger plans.

"Perhaps I could arrange that, so long as your plans concerning our interests work soon." Replied Madara Uchiha, a relic of the past in the eyes of many, but someone who refused to die so long as his ambitions gave fruit no matter how long he'd have to wait.

The sound of someone sipping coffee showed a blonde beauty of a woman with amber reptilian eyes, her hair short but with a frontal braid, and a delighted smile aimed at the other people in the room. She was clad in a sleeveless black jumpsuit with baggy pants, walked barefoot to show her black nail polish and soft feet, but what stood out were her snake tattoos on her arms. She simply sat cross legged on her chair, sipping her drink before gently putting it down and waiting for the meeting to start. Her knowledge was both to be feared and perhaps even respected.

"You sure like to keep appearances to avoid being linked to us, Gendo. Pity all your goals don't overcome the failures your wife and kid showed to the world." Chuckled Medusa Gorgon, a woman whose true colors she could hide with ease, and who had the nasty habit of taking joy out of others' pain.

Besides the blonde woman was a very beautiful mature lady with red eyes with a silver ring inside the iris, grayish pale hair with a bright rainbow underside that spread around her head like wings, a glorious body to kill for, and a white dress that showed just how worthy her body was for killing with two white straps over her large maternal breasts. She simply played with a small red Dust crystal in her hand, flicking it in her fingers like it was a toy while keeping an amused smile at such a simple but beautiful thing. This was the one person Torchwick considered the cruelest of them all.

"Perhaps it'd be best not to speak so soon, Medusa. I'm told by your sister that your little agenda may not prove as useful… But I could help if you let me in." Commented Ragyo Kiryuiin with a sultry smile, a CEO of her own Dust company and who lived a double life as more than met the eye.

Torchwick sighed, "Ladies and gentlemen, please let's not leave the matter at hand ignored." He said in his playful tone as he took a seat with them, cane at his side at all times, "I've been told Beacon's been getting some new students and that means we may need to keep an eye out for future pests. Now, I know all of us have the forces of those flea bitten mutts of the White Fang… No offense, Medusa." He said with a faked charming smile to the blonde woman. "But we can never be too careful with how Ozpin and his friends from Shibusen think."

She gave him a matching smirk, "I'd be careful when talking about who are the hounds and who are the hunters, Torchwick. My sisters and I aren't like the typical Faunus. We along many others are far more evolved. It's a shame, though, that those quote-unquote mutts can sniff our differences."

The redhead grinned, "Oh, you make me cry, Medusa. But fine, I shall keep a short leash on them for you, wouldn't want them to get too rebellious."

Gendo scoffed, "Soldiers are still soldiers, they need no purpose but to serve a higher cause. If they don't want to fight, then make due with what we have."

Madara raised a brow, "You mean to face Ozpin head-on without a proper advantage? That man has Death and that masked brat's school backing him up. We need to be intelligent."

Gendo spoke a bit louder, not yelling but loud enough to try to carry his point, "We know when to attack, it's only a matter of the job getting done."

Ragyo chuckled, "Perhaps that may not be so easy. The Schnee Dust company is still a nuisance with their security and how much weight they have in the Dust industry. Even my own company can't do much but compete with them evenly. Maybe that's why they are such fun if still annoying targets for our Dust raids."

"Our shared entertainment aside…" Torchwick continued, "I propose we keep a close eye on Beacon. Let's say I had a meeting with a certain little addition to them, and it could be dangerous if properly trained."

The other four remained silent for a bit, letting that sink in.

Medusa smiled, "Fine, I could always use more test subjects."

Gendo sighed, "I can prepare proper counter measures so long as I get a proper analysis of their abilities."

Madara chuckled, "Worried about the new generations, seems like the past again, but fine, I'll stay vigilant."

Ragyo grinned, "I kind of went ahead." The others in the room turned at her, "My daughter came to me with an… interesting proposal to help me in my plans."

Medusa laughed bitterly, "You trust that little tart when you don't know if you have full control of her actions?"

Ragyo smirked in bliss, "Oh, I have my ways to be ahead of my daughter. She knows her place."

Torchwick clapped with a playful smile, "Well, I guess that covers it. So long as you know how to keep that brat in her place. But as lovely as it'd be to rely on her to do the entire job, it's better if we don't take chances." The others nodded and soon began hatching plans on how to react to the little details that could come up next.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile at Beacon, one lone man stood looking from his office's window at the students walking into his academy.

Professor Ozpin was many things, normal was not one of them. The gray haired man would always be seen with his own special cane in one hand, his round amber spectacles on his face, and a cup of coffee in his other hand with a especially imported blend that the school had an entire store room for it. Anyone who dared to enter the suited man's sanctuary for his beloved coffee beans was met with severe consequences, not to mention seeing the ever calm and collected professor mad for once. Making hem question if he put more emphasis in how to make his coffee than combing his mop of hair.

At the side of the delicious nectar he always carried stood his colleague and perhaps one of his most trusted instructors, Glynda Goodwitch. The blonde woman wore a typical business suit with the addition of a cape, she was always seen with her thin glasses that gave her a librarian look, her hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face, and her riding crop always ready to make students back away in fear.

"You can't seriously expect me to believe you let so many students with questionable backgrounds." The blonde woman told him with her ever present blunt criticism.

He sipped his coffee, enjoying the new addition of an extra spoonful of cream, "I do believe in them. They may not be your usual hunters, but I've known their parents at least."

Glynda scoffed, "Only of a few of them, and even then they're not exactly like said parents. This Uzumaki boy may have been the son of two great hunters, but humans will see him as a Faunus, while Faunus themselves will sense that he's not fully one of them. That's the only good thing I can say about him, though." The woman reached into her pocket to dig out her scroll, the collapsible tablet showing an image of Naruto and texts with his back-story, "When he was seven years old, he put a kid in a pit for seven hours straight and only let him out after urinating on said kid. That's not even the worse he's done."

Ozpin walked to his table, trying to find some sugar, "Everyone can change with time. For the better or the worst it depends on what they choose."

Glynda put her finger on the screen and flicked the page off to show one with Ryuuko's face on it, "Miss Matoi on the other hand is a drifter and has been known for leaving students with broken bones. Not only that, she had attempted numerous times to interrogate people to find out who murdered her father and why, using rather brutal methods."

Ozpin simply put two cubes of sugar in his cup and started to stir the mix, "I owed Dr. Matoi a favor so she's not going away anytime soon. Besides, I have confidence in her skills for the tournament."

Glynda changed the image with one of Shinji, "Out of all of these new kids you accepted at the last moment, only Maka Albarn and Shinji Ikari seem to be the normal ones. And even then, Shinji has ties to… THAT man." Here she closed her scroll and looked at her boss, "I won't pretend like I know you or what is on your mind, but I'd be able to sleep better at night if I knew what are your true reasons to have these kids that no other school would take."

Ozpin smiled calmly at his colleague and held up a cup of coffee for her, she took it and then he spoke, "I saw something in them, Ruby and even Jaune Arc I never believed I'd see again. Not after those battles many years ago." He smiled at his own reflection in his drink, "You know I have many mistakes I want to redeem myself for, but this choice isn't one of them."

Glynda uncharacteristically sighed and took a sip from her cup, only to find out it was tea, and her favorite blend.

XXXXXX

"So, she's the one? Matoi Ryuuko, huh?" a green haired lad said to his boss.

Said boss just kept walking with him and his fellow underlings following her, "I have reasons to believe she may be more than a thorn on my side. Sooner or later, we may have to deal with her and whoever's unlucky enough to be on her team and become our enemies."

The pinkette grinned, "Don't be like that, Satsuki-chan. You know whoever comes our way they won't be much of a problem thanks to the gifts you granted us."

The bluenet sighed under his collar, "Afraid it may be better to follow our plans and secure ourselves some followers like back at Honnouji, Lady Satsuki. I didn't look into the data around for nothing, some of our fellow freshmen aren't slackers."

The fuzzy browed girl smirked slightly, "Trust me, Inumuta, I know. What I would be concerned about is to prove our worth before them and make sure we surpass every single student in here."

The green haired boy laughed, "You mean we could have competition? Sorry for the lack of respect, Lady Satsuki, but who could surpass us with the power you gave us?"

The ravenette lowered her smirk a bit, still keeping her regal if arrogant look as she moved some hair behind her ear, "I wouldn't be so confident, Sanageyama. After all, you were allowed at Honnouji because of your skills. Who knows if someone here could match and even surpass you? The world is a big place after all."

The samurai-ish boy chuckled, "I apologize once again, but that's something I have yet to see. Despite our last encounter, I don't think there's anyone but you who could give me a true fight."

The pinkette scoffed, "Getting all cocky again, you damn wild ape? Don't think you can talk like that to Satsuki-chan just because you lasted a few more seconds than your goons."

The masked youth smiled widely, "Then show me someone who can surpass me and maybe they can take my place."

Satsuki actually smiled, "There is one…"

That did silence Uzu Sanageyama, for a good five seconds, "Huh?!" he asked in shock.

Both Inumuta and the pinkette stared at their lady, "Y-You can't be serious, Lady Satsuki, the only one who can match us is-"

Satsuki ignored the bluenet as her gaze followed the students who left the ship, focusing on a pair of golden fox ears, "Naruto Uzumaki. Despite his origins he's a remarkable fighter, always standing tall and proud out of any encounter he's had so far, and doing so while obtaining wounds that have hardened him as a warrior." She walked forward, but spoke loud enough for her followers to hear her, "And you are wrong, Inumuta, there are others… Ruby Rose, someone I don't believe Ozpin brought for a mere encounter and who could be an interesting specimen. Maka Albarn, a prodigy in her knowledge and skills, easily capable of standing here with some of the best fighters around Vale. Pyrrha Nikos, her potential has been seen but not tapped, and I believe you've seen her in your cereal boxes, Nonon."

The pinkette beamed a bit, "You mean she's here? Man, I could get an autograph and perhaps some free boxes." The girl said, having a rather sweet tooth.

Satsuki turned to the green haired boy, wind blowing her hair and his trench coat as she spoke up, "Gamagoori is inside this academy waiting to help us in whatever we may need. However, you do have something to worry about, how strong are you when compared to these students."

Uzu stood silent as he gripped his shinai, itching to unleash his bamboo sword on a certain Faunus. Inumuta for his part unzipped his collar to bite his thumb, unhappy that his information wasn't good enough. Nonon for her part just ignored the monkey and the mutt and followed Satsuki into the prestigious academy.

"Well, I guess if Lady Satsuki's so intrigued by them…" the blue haired boy said, bringing the swordsman out of his train of thought, "…I'll have to make special notes for them."

The green-head spoke up, "Then I guess I'll wish Uzumaki good luck. After all, this is an academy for fighters. It wouldn't be good if I didn't see his true strength in an arena."

The spectacled boy chuckled as he closed his collar, "A wild monkey against a wild fox, that could be an interesting match."

The monkey grinned at his friend, "And you've gotten some venom from the snake."

Inumuta chuckled, "Her serpentine tongue does give inspiration."

XXXXXX

A few ways from them, just as the students walked to the place where the opening ceremony would take place, one Shinji Ikari sighed as he shivered a bit at what he wanted to do. He steeled his nerves, forced himself to walk forward, and spoke up, "H-Hey…" the timid boy said to the teen with orange hakama and the body of a true martial artist, meaning he had his skin heavily marked with muscles while keeping a lean complexion, possibly to have enough speed to charge at someone and… Shinji really needed to stop thinking pessimistic thoughts if he wanted to make a good first impression.

Naruto turned to the shy boy, raising a brow, "What's up?" he casually asked. This kid had the typical appearance that'd make even girls take his lunch money.

Shinji chuckled as he leaned his head back to look at the taller youth, "I… I think we… we kind of got on the wrong foot when meeting… I… I don't want to be on bad grounds with you so…" here he awkwardly extended his hand to the blond who stared at it for a while, "I've heard from my mentor that the best way to get to know someone is to at least try to be friends with them." he avoided mentioning the part where Misato said to kick that person's ass if they turned out to be a complete jerk, but the boy was really hoping Naruto wasn't.

But to the Faunus hybrid this was a first. A human just stood before him, he was trying to shake hands with him, and even tried to befriend him. So he came up with the most eloquent answer he could muster, "What're you talking about?" he asked bluntly, staring at the extended hand.

Shinji sighed and retrieved his hand, "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I am not good with this kind of stuff." He scratched the back of his head, trying not to stare at the blond.

Naruto looked down at him, this kid was… kinda pathetic. He was weak looking, obviously would rely on that gun of his, and was unable to properly make eye contact without feeling intimidated. So he did what he thought would be best, "I also suck at this kind of stuff, so you're not alone." He said bluntly before moving forward and, albeit reluctantly, spoke up, "Now just move, the ceremony has to be around here."

Shinji spoke up, "Actually, you're going in the wrong way." He said, which made the blond halt instantly with a cringe. The brunet raised his hand to the side opposite to where the blond had been headed to, "It's right there." He stated, a bit worried if this would tick off the blond considering how easily he got mad, but to his surprise Naruto took a deep breath, let it out, and walked to where Shinji was pointing.

"Fine, lead the way." The Faunus said as he moved a hand forward for the marksman to guide him.

Shinji chuckled nervously, but a small smile had formed on his face as he guided his new friend… well, perhaps not an official friend, but to think he managed to talk on normal terms to this rather intimidating fox was good enough for him.

Naruto for his part started to see Beacon in a new light, no pun intended, '_Perhaps this place won't be so bad._'

He had no idea what would come next, but so far he had found a… friend? Well, that was a weird word to get used to, but so far he couldn't say he disliked it… It was just weird.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**So, I've been busy this last week and today but am I glad to get this out. Anyway, here is the setting for what will be the initial arc and perhaps some of the strangest dynamics for future chapters.**

**Now, Naruto being approached by Shinji is meant for two things, to teach the former some humbleness and respect, and to teach the latter how to be a bit more courageous and daring. So, I'm trying to have each character on the team help each other grow, but they will also grow on their own when needed.**

**As for all of you asking me to make the pairings your way, well, I'll be clear: I like to write what I feel is fun and works. Last time I bent over to make several readers happy on a fic all I got was a story that left me unfulfilled and rather depressed at myself when reading it and not doing what I wanted from the start. Some of you may know what I'm talking about. I may go with my original idea for the pairings that I mentioned before, if only because they balance themselves out more. Ryuuko and Naruto may have more in common but the reason I was thinking on pairing them with Shinji and Maka respectively is because the shy boy and the nerdy bookworm could balance the two reckless maniacs. Maka showing Naruto kindness as he tries to get her to do more stuff than just reading, and Shinji teaching Ryuuko some self-control while she teaches him how to stand up for himself.**

**All I want is that every single one of you tries to at least respect my decisions and whatever I choose for this fic. Trust me, I will have a good reason to make a hard choice. If you disagree with me, that's fine, just try to not flame me because things didn't go your way or the pacing isn't to your liking. I like my stories to flow the way I got them going with fast jokes and quick exposition to get to the core and action. I also like my stories to have things that make me feel like a kid again.**

**And a random question: I'm not the only one that sees connections between Shinji and Ryuuko plot-wise with both of them having manipulative parents with power-madness, am I?**

**Swordslinger out!**


	3. Chapter 3

I OWN NOTHING

You know what? Since I know what I wanna do with this fic, feel inspired to do so, and want to do so, I shall fly into the skies to write this fic and blast all obstacles with my giant exploding testicles of gold.

**XXXXXX**

Meet the doofuses

"Well, this is big." Naruto commented as he and Shinji walked into the large auditorium where the ceremony was taking place.

The two just stood calmly there, Naruto with his arms crossed and a scowl aimed at whoever stared too much at his Faunus heritage, while Shinji tried to remain unseen. Thankfully the contrast of intimidating heavy weight fighter and dorky but sort of adorable skinny boy helped Shinji get some attention off. Still, the timid boy did notice the stares his… acquaintance was getting. To put it simply, he would need several extra fingers to try to count those who ignored Naruto, and those were about a fifth of the crowd, there were two thirds whispering about animals, and the rest were focusing on the ceremony.

Shinji tried but failed to hold back his words, "There's never a need to act like this, but I guess people will do things they shouldn't, huh?"

Naruto looked at where the principal would stand, but finally spoke with a slight shrug of his shoulders, "Humans, Faunus, they're all the same when it's about hating each other, only difference is one side doesn't get extra appendages or night vision." He uncrossed his arms to take a more relaxed pose, feeling a bit more at ease talking to… well, someone.

Shinji nodded, "It's just like when I was in grade school. Bullies would just pick up a fight for no reason but because someone is different."

"No, it's because they're self-centered idiots." The two boys turned to see the black haired, red-streaked girl from the ship. She finally turned to the blond, "Didn't catch your name, big guy."

Naruto raised a brow, "I thought you didn't like my attitude."

Ryuuko simply spat on the ground, "Who says I care about manners?" she said with a tired stare typical of a banchou, "Anyway, you're with Shinji over there…" she pointed at the scrawny boy who incredulously looked at her, questioning why his existence made Naruto somehow shine in a brighter light to the banchou girl's eyes, "So considering you can talk with others, you may not be as much of a jerk as in the ship." She adjusted her briefcase, "We all have our issues here, so we can either talk or let our fists do the talking."

Naruto actually chuckled, "I don't think it'd be necessary… I'd kick your ass."

Shinji was now alarmed, more when Ryuuko fully turned to the fox boy, "Oh, is that right? Well, how about we decide who can kick whose ass in an arena, tough boy?" she set down her briefcase, "Let me tell you something, I am not a banchou because I'm not good with numbers and letters, I'm a banchou because it's fun to make arrogant assholes cry."

Naruto locked glares with Ryuuko, sparks flying as she smirked at him in a challenging way while he returned the facial expression, "Just don't call me a cheater, I play dirty." Here he cracked his knuckles while Ryuuko felt her hand itch for her scissor blades.

Understandably, Shinji was too terrified to get in between the two. The poor marksman could see the duo's deadly battle spirits swirling around them. It was terrifying. A red spiral of raw fighting spirit completely covered Ryuuko, flying into the skies and taking the form of a crimson dragon with only one eye, the other permanently closed by a scar. Naruto's very own fighting spirit seemed to explode into an orange fireball, which soon took the form of nine swishing orange tails, with a massive fox growling at the dragon face to face.

Or perhaps Shinji was too scared, to the point he started to hallucinate. But in the end, something marvelous happened: a bright light came forth, blinding the beasts atop his new… acquaintances (he still wasn't sure if he could officially call them friends), and stopped their battle of growls. The two reckless teens turned to the source of the light, the dragon and the kitsune groaning at the light that made them go away… That light came in the form of a few words:

"Please stop it, you two. You know you'll get expelled if you fight before the big tests, right?" in Shinji's eyes, his savior had two wings made of that bright light he saw moments ago.

But soon the light show stopped and he was able to see his savior was a rather petite girl, even shorter than him. In terms of height, the now quartet had Naruto as the tallest of them, Ryuuko as the second tallest if only for two simple inches, and the newcomer as the shortest for being a fifteen years old.

Ryuuko stared at the girl, another blonde but without the… ahem, assets that she had seen in another, "Aren't you a bit on the short side to be here?"

Maka Albarn groaned but did her best to try to remain calm, "I skipped a few grades to get in here, so yes, I may not be old enough but I made up for it." She then put a hand on her hips while aiming the other hand's index finger at the two fight-happy teens, "But what I've said stands, if either of you fight right now, you won't be able to enter the academy, much less get a chance to spar if you want to."

The banchou sighed, "Man, you got a point there…" she said with her slight and rather – for the lack of a better word – sensual drawl as she hefted her briefcase on her shoulder, "Fine, just make sure you get in." she said with her gaze aimed at the blond.

Naruto cracked his neck, faking that he wasn't paying much care to her as he spoke, "It wouldn't be fun."

Maka sighed, "Well, they act more like friends now, that's good." She finally took notice of Shinji who had been walking towards her.

She had to question what brought the skinny boy to bow to her, "Thank you, savior."

Maka blinked, but had to laugh nervously to try to cheer the mood as she scratched her cheek with a gloved finger, "No problem… Um…"

"Oh, I'm Shinji Ikari. These are Naruto Uzumaki…" here the blond nodded as he stoically waited for the principal to arrive, "…and Ryuuko Matoi." The banchou girl gave the petite blonde a V hand-sign and a grin accompanied with a "Yo".

Maka smiled and nodded, "I am Maka Albarn, I hope to have a good year with all of you."

"Same here, Maka." Shinji said with his best grin, which did make him look like a dork, but the cute kind of dork.

Ryuuko grinned and chuckled, "Heh, can't be bad if you can calm down the big guy." She commented while hooking a thumb to the Faunus.

Naruto growled, "Just wait and I'll wipe that smug grin off your face when we're in the sparring ring."

"You and what army, Whiskers?" Ryuuko asked with a battle grin.

"I…" Naruto said with a hand on his chest, before rising his left hand, "…Señor Lefty over here…" then he raised his right hand, "…and Mister Righty."

Maka and Shinji sighed in unison, the former speaking up, "Try to be patient, please."

Shinji remembered a lesson from his teacher Misato, "And please, try not to be jerks." The lesson was that it was best to be blunt when people were being idiots.

The two hot-blooded teens looked at each other but silently agreed, "Fine." They said as they turned to where Professor Ozpin should be at, making the two smaller teens sigh in relief.

XXXXXX

Watching not that far away was one Satsuki Kiryuiin, examining the possibilities, "Uzumaki is prone to anger, but it seems he can and will listen to reason even if it's from humans. Interesting…" she said, with Inumuta behind her holding a scroll of his own, typing like mad everything she said in the screen, "Albarn has a natural talent in calling the shots, but it seems she lacks proper strength, and yet she makes up for it with some ability to read them. Could it be her semblance?" Nonon chuckled, but out of the corner of her eye had a glare aimed at the blonde girl, "Nikos for her part is very well collected even for an event like this, we may need to keep a close eye on here. As for Rose… she disappoints me in her lack of confidence, but the natural speed she has shows promising."

Uzu chuckled, "I do believe I am faster, Lady Satsuki. But I'll give credit where it's due, she is fast for her age." He then motioned with his head at the fox eared brawler, "But what of the other two? I know one of them is that Matoi girl you want to be wary of, but the other does carry some heavy artillery. I can even smell he also has medical supplies, so he's prepared."

Satsuki turned to Inumuta, who began to speak, "Shinji Ikari, apparently he was taught by a mentor and worked in a few missions with two rather… unstable drop-outs."

"Elaborate." Satsuki said as stoic and cold as ever.

The bluenet adjusted his glasses, "It seems they were old friends of his who he also trained with. One of them just quit because, and I quote, the school was boring and restraining her. This one however has a large list of violent acts both before and after dropping out. The second… unfortunately has little to no data except rather outstanding notes. But it also says her social skills were non-existent, and she seems to have joined this other drop out for a challenge. With Shinji, all three were trained as marksmen. Details seem to have been deleted, so I'll need time to get to whatever remains are in the system."

"Interesting…" Satsuki said and Inumuta got ready to make more notes, "So while he's as mentally unstable as those drop outs, he is perfectly capable of working with others despite the circumstances, he still tries to find a middle ground, and seems to do his best to be of support. Judging by his choice of weapon, he's better staying behind, but if he's packing medical supplies, some courage could have him on the frontlines aiding the wounded."

Nonon giggled, "As expected from Lady Satsuki, making plans out of every single detail and every single pawn in this game." She then aimed a glare at Maka, Pyrrha and that Ruby girl, '_No matter what it takes, I shall protect the place where I stand. Sorry girls, but you're not as close to Lady Satsuki to fight by her side._'

XXXXXX

Once the ceremony was over and everyone walked out, they could sum of Professor Ozpin's attitude when he gave his speech in three words:

"That was… odd." Ryuuko commented, hands in her pockets as she stared into the sky, trying not to pay much attention to how ominous the principal's words were and how foreboding it could be in a place where she was looking for answers. Then she finally noticed she was walking with more company than when she was with her best friend, "Oh, it's you three."

Shinji chuckled, "Well, we're supposed to get some dinner and then sleep." He said as he, Naruto and Maka walked closely. "All of the students are heading for the cafeteria, tomorrow is a big day after all."

Naruto just shrugged casually, "I'm just going where I want to, not my problem if you're around."

Maka sighed and before the blond and the banchou girl could lock horns verbally again, put herself between the two, "How about you just try to calm down, after all, you may end up as teammates."

The taller girl waved at the fifteen year old dismissively, "Don't worry, I'm not getting kicked out. Besides, this is typical competitive smack talk, you know, seeing how long one can boast without saying bullshit." She walked closer to Naruto and lightly tapped her knuckles on his chest, "Think of it as dude talk but a bit less idiotic."

Naruto raised a brow but decided to calm down, neither of these guys had been mean to him. In fact, they had been rather nice, though Ryuuko did annoy him a bit with her attitude, Shinji needed to grow some extra pubes, and Maka was a bit too bossy for his liking, "I'm not fighting or punching anyone unless I have a good reason to, so don't think of me as some brute. Is that good enough for you?" he asked the entire team to see if they could be less stressed around him.

Shinji sighed as he managed a genuine smile, "Yeah, I guess. Thank you, Naruto."

Ryuuko yawned a bit, "You sounded rather boring here, but it's fine. Better a guy who doesn't want to fight than some maniac."

Maka giggled at the other girl's way of showing acceptance, reminding her of her former partner, "I've met people who did far worse to show off, so yes, that's more than good enough for me."

Naruto stood there for a moment, feeling strange again. These people, these… humans… they weren't acting like other humans with their whispers and stares, they just… tried to care. Not forcing smiles or trying to treat him like a human, but they were just doing their best to get along with him in a sincere way.

He scratched his head, his fingers flicking his fox ears a bit, "You guys are weird." The trio before him felt like falling face first on the ground.

Shinji chuckled a bit ashamed at that statement, forcing a grin, "That… wasn't what I expected to here, but ok, you could've called us worse." He said, trying to calm down any fire in Ryuuko at those words so she and the blond didn't get into another competitive smack talk as she had called it.

The cafeteria was what one expected, large tables, plenty of trays, a counter with several plates, and teenagers everywhere, all of them in their battle or casual attires. But it was still easy to recognize groups and people who wished to be together. Groups ranged from the typical only brawn to several kinds of specialists in mixed combat. In a way they were perhaps one of the more balanced groups if they thought about it: Maka's scythe was meant to keep enemies at bay and show off her skills, Shinji's rifle was especially made for long range shooting despite its small size, Naruto was obvious good with using his fists which his strong as steel body showed, and Ryuuko carried a mean pair of dual blades for quick and swift movements.

Each of them went for a tray and grabbed what they wanted, Naruto finding himself a bit comfortable for it seemed that Ozpin hired teachers who weren't discriminative to anyone with animal traits. So they all sat at the same table, though it was mostly the blond that had followed the others for, even if he didn't want to admit it, he knew that sitting with others would be far more awkward or it would involve him trying to control his temper. The small group of… acquaintances (none of them knew if they could call the other a friend) had all a very different plate: Maka had a balanced meal of pasta with tomato sauce, salad, and some warm milk; Shinji had grabbed himself a sandwich – that for some reason the cooks called "sandvich" - with a large glass of orange juice; Naruto had gotten himself a very large bowl of miso ramen and herbal tea, and Ryuuko had a mountain of croquettes with mashed potatoes, and a cold soda.

"Wow, you two are seriously going to eat all that?" Maka asked, the bowl Naruto had was big enough to fit a human head, and Ryuuko had gotten herself half the croquettes at the counter so the cooks had to make more. Her plate of pasta was barely medium sized, and these two had rather healthy figures for people who seemed determined to eat so much.

Shinji stopped before he took a bite of his sandvich, and tried to lighten the mood, "Well, my mentor eats as much as them… I had to learn to cook for her, because before I started to cook her fridge was filled with beer cans only." He then groaned miserably, "Just wish she could get rid of most of them."

Ryuuko chuckled, "Woman must have a steel liver."

Naruto just spoke for speaking, "My Gramps had more of a steel liver. Ever since I was a kid, the old man could drink half his weight in alcohol and still speak properly."

Maka made a mental note of that, "So you were close with your grandfather?" she worded that carefully, knowing people with family problems when she saw them. It was no mystery for her, her father wasn't exactly a role model, thus why her mother left her. She could see it in Shinji's way of speaking about his mentor that he was closer to that person than others despite his timid nature, Ryuuko had an aura that told Maka she was trying to be strong for herself, and Naruto… what Maka felt from him made her pity the blond. Maka's very natural gift was to see inside people, and what she could see in them made her click in a strange way.

Naruto chuckled as he looked at his bowl and used his chopsticks to pull the noodles, letting them cool off as he spoke, "He was the one who got me hooked to this. He also trained me, old bastard was an ancient relic and yet he never let me hit him once as a kid, and when not avoiding my punches he'd be sending me flying through the air with his."

Maka smiled, "So you're an old school martial artist, huh? I know a few friends of mine who'd definitely like to meet someone like you."

Naruto looked at her with a bit of cynicism, "Well, I just hope you're right about them liking it." He then motioned to his ears, "I still wonder what makes you all so weird around someone like me."

Maka smiled, "One of my best friends is a Faunus… well, more than friend she's a bit of a mentor. My friends also know her and are good friends with her. She is a senior and took me and a friend in, though sometimes I feel like she's a freeloader even if I was the one at her place."

Ryuuko smirked, "Ears or not, I never really cared what others looked like, only reason I'd dislike someone would be if they were arrogant and annoying. There was this time this tennis girl was up in my face for entering the backyard to get my friend Mako from her training session, bitch tried to punish Mako by throwing tennis balls at her face, so I made her feel the same pain."

Shinji widened his eyes, "That… doesn't sound like a proper solution… You could've been more civilized. Like, I don't know, trying to talk to a teacher or just run with your friend. There's never such need for violence, right?" he asked, only to get blank stares from the others, "W-What is it?" he was really getting nervous.

"We will be making a living of killing monsters, you know?" Ryuuko said flatly, "Besides, if you saw someone in pain because of someone abusing their strength, what would you do?"

Shinji sat there, looking at his food, and thought. His father had been a horrible man and had tried to harm him for something, but Misato had come in to save him at the last minute by leaving the man unconscious… "I… I can agree that violence can be needed, but there could be times in which we can talk, right?"

Maka smiled sweetly at him, "Yes, I understand you." She then looked at Naruto and gave him a playful grin, making him narrow his eyes, and aimed her gaze at Ryuuko too, who raised a brow, "Sometimes you get into fights that could've been solved by ignoring others, and may regret it for reacting to it with violence may get you in trouble or end up without satisfying you at all."

Naruto sighed, "Fine, I get it, I am not dumb. Tch, I just prefer to solve things directly."

Ryuuko chuckled, "I can see I will win our sparring session easily with Maka by my side."

In that second the two smaller members of the group banged their heads on the table as Naruto and Ryuuko shot each other heated battle stares with Ryuuko grinning and Naruto remaining stoic.

XXXXXX

After the meal, everyone went to get to bed in their own sleeping bags. The massive hall they'd be at was very well decorated considering it consisted only of empty space and stairs leading to an upper floor. It was like a lobby from a luxurious mansion, and considering the academy was basically more of a castle than a school, that comparison was easily seen.

The group got changed and moved to their sleeping bags. Maka did feel a bit embarrassed, her attire consisted of a black sleeping gown that hugged her figure but… the other girls were… To put it simply, there was a blonde girl with long, wavy hair, lilac eyes, and a pair of breasts far bigger than her hands wearing very short black biker shorts that tightened in all the right places on a slightly plump bottom and an orange top which hugged her massive puppies. Maka's figure was small and not really curvy with her attire, unless she could show some curves forming if she took it off, but that was no option.

She noted that the blonde was talking to the redhead she saw on the ship, and then the more developed girl aimed her eyes at the boys and she purred. Maka felt a bit flustered at how forward this girl was, but caught what could be one of the reasons. The fox boy she met today was wearing only a pair of blue pants, and his upper body was showing way better than when he had his black tank top. Naruto's body was lean and yet packed with a heavy amount of muscle, every inch of his skin was heavily marked with strength and speed. He had firm six pack abs, pectorals that were like metal plates, a muscular back, and his biceps and forearms were still intimidating. (Think Captain Hans Gunsche from Hellsing)

Sadly for the blondes, Naruto was putting on and then buttoning a blue long-sleeved shirt. "I feel… weak…" someone mumbled behind Maka, it was Shinji. The boy was clad in a simple white t-shirt and red slacks, and his frame still looked as frail as ever. But it seemed that the lack of confidence he had was, obviously, from being around so many guys with the physique to make him look like a human toothpick.

Then Ryuuko appeared, patting his head, "Well, you just gotta train your ass off then." She said and, in the instant they saw her, both Shinji and Maka wondered who this girl was. Ryuuko was wearing perhaps the one attire that would completely contrast with her banchou looks: an orange set of pajamas like Naruto's, but these pajamas had bunnies in them, fluffy cartoonish bunnies.

"That's… a cute set of pajamas." Maka admitted with some awe.

Ryuuko sighed, "I got them from my friend Mako. It was a birthday gift." She then looked at the two and smiled a bit, "You might like meeting her, she's in this school, though she's a year older so she's in the second year. Anyway, you may enjoy meeting her, so long as you manage to keep up with her energy."

Shinji chuckled sheepishly as he recalled some memories of how he had to take care of a drunk Misato, "I think I can handle a bit of energy."

"I think I need some fucking sleep." Naruto groaned as he walked pass the three, on his head was… perhaps the goofiest sleeping cap ever. It was black with cartoonish eyes, two fake buck teeth, and was overall out of place for someone like Naruto after what they had seen the blond wear in the day. "Any comments about this sleeping cap will get you kicked out the window." He said as he sat down on his sleeping bag and readied himself for some sleep.

Shinji swallowed, "You think he means it?" he asked Ryuuko and Maka, basically those he saw as the only ones he could count to face Naruto if he got angry.

"I think he's right." Maka said as she stretched her arms over her head, "We could really-"

"Hello!"

The standing trio and the sitting Faunus turned to see the blonde woman that had purred dragging Ruby. This girl had a mile wide grin on her face while the poor redhead tried – and miserably failed – to get off the older girl's grip. Ruby looked embarrassed as she tried to avoid locking eyes with the group while her big sister Yang kept on smiling.

"So, nice night we got ourselves, huh? I believe you and my sister have met earlier." The blonde said as she pulled Ruby to be face to face with Maka.

The pigtailed girl blinked before beaming, "I remember now, you're Ruby Rose."

"And you're… Maka Albarn, right?" the other fifteen year old said a bit shyly.

Yang beamed, "I'm her big sister Yang Xiao Long, it's a pleasure to meet you, Maka." She then leaned closer, her smile inches from a now very uncomfortable Maka who back-jumped a few inches, "So, it seems you and Ruby are the same age, I think you may get along well, considering Ruby was worshipping your foldable scythe while at the mess hall-" and just then the red riding hood redhead clamped her hands on her big sister's big mouth.

"Hehehe… Please ignore her, I was just talking without thinking much- Ew!" she pulled her hands off her sister's mouth and wiped them on her shirt, "Ew… gross, Yang!" she glared at the blonde who had her tongue sticking out of her smiling face.

The quartet before the sisters sweat-dropped, "You sure are a weird sight." Naruto commented as he grabbed and started smothering his pillow.

Yang grinned at him, "And you're a sight for sore eyes, handsome." She said with her beaming confidence and carefree attitude.

To Maka, Ryuuko, Shinji and Ruby's surprise, Naruto blushed as he stood up and backed away from the girl, "Hey, what're you on about?!"

Yang's grin became face-splitting, "Oh, how cuuuuuute!" she basically sang, making the blond growl.

"Tch, how annoying…" he growled at her, not wanting to pull back his verbal punches considering he was getting humiliated by what he'd call an airhead.

Yang put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, her chest bouncing nicely in a way that left… little to the imagination, and even less for her fabric to cover. "Come on, Whiskers, don't be like that, I'm just playing with you. If I truly wanted to annoy you, trust me, I'd do far worse than calling you on how adorable you are when flustered." She then turned to Shinji, who flushed furiously when getting the cleavage shot, "Though you're not bad yourself in that adorkable way." She even winked at the shy boy.

"You… You're not pulling my leg, are you?" the embarrassed boy asked as he stepped back awkwardly.

Naruto growled, "You sure you're not trying?" he asked Yang.

Ryuuko grinned, "Oh, I like her already."

Shinji sweated as he forced himself to remain calm, this meant he was slightly panicking, "Shouldn't you help us stop this?"

Maka giggled, "She is right, though, it's kind of adorable to get someone as gruff as Naruto flustered, and you're looking way too cute, Shinji."

Yang smirked when she heard that, "Oh, so you're Fishcake, huh?"

Naruto turned at Maka, furious, "Oi, don't give this girl ammo."

Yang kept on smiling more, "Come on, Fishcake, relax… Besides, us blondes got to stick and have more fun together, right Maka? Oh, and you can bring Shinji for a few laughs too."

The petite girl beamed, "Sure! Besides, it's more fun with you two, boys."

The blond groaned but… in a weird way, he didn't feel mad at these girls. The same happened to Shinji, only that he was embarrassed beyond belief. They were making fun of them, yes, but… they didn't care for their appearance or what the boys were like, or even made jokes about them being anything bad. These girls just had fun at the boys' reactions and, surprisingly, were having a good, honest laugh by teasing them, not insulting the two guys. That didn't mean Naruto wasn't annoyed and Shinji didn't want the ground to swallow him; or that someone else didn't find this a bit irritating for their reading.

"Excuse me?" said a girl and then, just then, Naruto's blood went cold. He turned, and just as he did, the girl before him had her amber eyes widening as she sensed him, as she sensed how similar but different he was… It was just a second, but in that instant that Naruto noticed the black bow on her head of long black hair, they decided to not speak, "I was wondering if you could knock it down a notch."

"Yeah… agreed…" Naruto said as he stared at the girl dead in the eye.

Yang, however, gained an extra wider grin, "Oh hey, we were about to look for you too."

The new girl blinked, "Pardon?"

Yang grabbed Ruby and shoved her into this new girl's face, "You two met, haven't you?"

Ruby smiled sheepishly as she waved at the ravenette, "Um… hi?"

The newcomer blinked, her amber eyes recollecting images of this girl, "Aren't you the girl that exploded?"

Ruby chuckled, "Yes, I am… My name's Ruby Rose but you can call me Crater Face…" the others blinked once, twice, and a third time, making Ruby chuckle nervously, "Actually… better call me Ruby." She said, wishing that Yang could come up with something else to say or tease the blond Faunus in order to avoid having to go through this awkward thing of meeting new people.

The girl with the bow shrugged, "Blake." She said, and then turned to the others, "And who are you?" she asked, though a certain blond half-blood knew what it was all about.

"I'm Maka Albarn."

"Shinji Ikari, um… it's a pleasure."

"Name's Ryuuko Matoi."

"I'm Yang, and this is F-"

"Naruto Uzumaki." He cut off the grinning girl.

Blake nodded, "Well, it'd be good if you all went to sleep. I'd like to read my book…" she gave the blond fox a quick glance as she spoke her next words, "…in private."

"Oh, what's your book about?" Ruby asked a bit out of the blue, noticing the object in Blake's hands.

The amber eyed girl gave the redhead a calm stare, "It's a story about two souls fighting for the control of the body they're in."

Ruby, to everyone's surprise, smiled, "I love books." She said with sincerity, "Ever since I was young, Yang would read me books about heroes and monsters, and I wished to be like them, fighting for what is right." She then turned to look at Maka who had a sweet smile on her face.

"I love books too, my father used to read a lot to me ever since I was little, so I grew to love their stories and everything in them. I do believe stories are meant to share something with others, perhaps the joys one has lived or the thrills they have experienced."

Blake smiled a bit at these girls' honesty, "It sounds a bit idealistic, mostly you, Ruby, the world isn't as nice as some stories."

The redhead grinned, "That's why we're here, to make it a better place."

Naruto spoke up, "Things are never that easy…" he commented, and while his words had earned him the image of a pessimist in the eyes of those around him, his next words changed that, "So don't give up on what you hold dear. That's what an old fart used to tell me."

Ruby smiled at him, but that smile was easily wiped by the sound of a familiar voice, "Could you please keep it down over there? Everyone's trying to-"

Both the newcomer and Ruby spoke in perfect, shocked unison, "Oh not you again!"

Maka, Shinji, Naruto, Ryuuko and Blake decided to do the smart thing: ignore the banter between these girls and get to sleep.

Meanwhile, someone else made an observation, "Inumuta, back then when Belladona arrived, Uzumaki had a reaction."

"I'll make sure to gather any information about it, Lady Satsuki."

The Kiryuiin heiress smiled, "Now all we have to do is find a way to deal with our secondary target… Weiss Schnee." She looked at the girl who Ruby Rose was trying to calm in a pathetic fashion while Yang Xiao Long was getting heated at this princess' attitude towards her little sister, "A woman like her knows not how to command others, such a pity she may not even give us a true fight." However, as she said that, she kept her eyes on the sisters, "Inumuta, are we sure they are sisters?"

"Why do you ask, Lady Satsuki?"

She remained silent for a while, before sighing, "Nothing important… I felt a bit curious back then." She said as she looked at how the big sister protected the little one, as it should be.

Nonon for her part noted her friend's hand tightening in a fist, a wave of pain hit the pinkette's heart. She knew why Satsuki couldn't think straight when around people like those two sisters.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap! Also…**

**PAIRINGS ARE STILL UNDECIDED!**

**For crying out loud, guys, you're treating me like I'm committing murder for saying I was leaning on putting Maka with Naruto… I mean, seriously? Is it because she doesn't have the breast size that other girls in this story have? Many of you have told me your reasons, but come the fuck on, I am still not sure what I'll do when it comes to the pairings so give it a rest and see where the chips fall before making any kind of criticism when you still lack any bases for your accusations of how they may or may not work.**

**It's almost like I got no say in my own fic. Many of you have flamed me, others have sent rather unsavory guest reviews I've luckily been able to delete before they were there for long, and while some of you try to understand my point of view you don't really show much truth to those words when making less than subtle suggestions to change things.**

**Fuck, I've made this chapter to get the team to know each other better and find ways to make them bounce together or against each other as well as test a few possibilities for the pairings.**

**You can at least try to see how the story flows before complaining how you don't see this working when you still haven't seen it working at all. I still haven't done a damn thing or gotten anyone truly close to being a couple, so try to be patient before making any calls.**

**Oh, and before you forget, I want to have fun writing this fic so I'll go with the route that makes me smile the most. Perhaps I will pair Naruto with a girl you don't expect, or perhaps I'll go with what I've said, I still don't know but I want to have fun experimenting with this idea.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	4. Chapter 4

I OWN NOTHING

One hard part about my fic writing is that I can have figured out I want this Naruto to suplex a train like Sabin from FF6, but there's always a battle between myself and my evil self for the last Jelly Baby first.

**XXXXXX**

Rise and free-fall

"Wake up, lazy butt!"

Maka groaned as someone sang out loud to wake their friend, a girl by the sound of it, someone who seemed as detached from reality as her friend Patricia Thompson… She missed that ball of liveliness, but she was in another school and needed to do what the voice had told whoever it had woken up. The ashy blonde girl opened her eyes and sat straight to find out that it was very early in the morning and a few of the students were still sleeping while some of the others tried to force themselves out of their sleeping bags.

A certain trio she knew didn't have much problem, "…eighty seven… eighty eight… eighty nine… you're gonna…continue… to stare or… something…? Ninety four…" It was Naruto, who was already clad in his battle clothes, and doing one-handed push-ups with his right arm on his back and his left arm lifting him from the ground every time his nose was an inch from touching the floor. He was asking that to the other students who couldn't believe he wasn't yet breaking a sweat when he had already done a hundred push-ups with the arm he currently had on his back.

"I kinda wish I had that much energy in the morning." Shinji admitted with a smile, making Naruto grunt as he finished his morning rituals. The shorter boy was already dressed and was even showered.

The third person, however, walked over a still sleeping Ryuuko who was laying sprawled on her sleeping bag. "Greetings." Satsuki Kiryuiin said as she looked at the trio currently below her nose, mainly because Naruto and Maka had yet to stand up, both sat on the ground, and Shinji was like a head or so shorter than her.

The three felt tense at her words. There was no warmth in them, just a tone that demanded respect and obedience, and doing so in a way that made each of them acknowledge this woman could be dangerous if mad. That didn't mean the most hot-headed of them would stand down, "Are you looking for someone or something here?" Naruto asked dryly, never having liked any kind of people who looked down on anyone or acted this cold to others like they should already be respectful.

Satsuki looked at the three and gave them a ghost of a smile that tickled the corners of her mouth, "Yes, my name is Satsuki Kiryuiin, and I am looking for potential." She calmly stared at this trio as she stood between them and Matoi, "Individuals such as you have more talents that you let on, something I can easily see at first glance. I was simply interested in meeting the people who I could rely on soon."

Maka felt a bit of a shiver running down her spine at those words. The way this girl spoke was like a general, cold, methodic, and commanding. But it truly lacked any kind of warmth to but not in the way of someone lacking emotions, but of someone who took themselves too seriously. She did speak, though, "That's sweet of you to say, Satsuki. Umm… I don't have much problem with who I could be paired with, but it may be interesting to fight with you."

Satsuki allowed a smirk to show, "I will be looking forward to it, but…" here she returned to her usually stoic face, "I'd also like to have your names, if you wouldn't mind. I believe that for future associates it'd be best to be properly introduced to build trust."

Shinji felt the same chilling sensation of oppression than Maka. It was like this woman was a dragon staring down at some peasant, demanding manners to be allowed to walk with his life. The nervous boy did manage to speak, though, "I'm Shinji Ikari, Miss Satsuki. These are my… my friends, Maka Albarn, Naruto Uzumaki, and the one sleep over there is-"

"You need not mention her." Satsuki coldly cut off the boy, "I already know of Matoi, but I thank you for your good manners, Ikari. I wish you have a nice day and good luck at the initiation."

And with that, she walked off, leaving Naruto to sum up her personality in three simple words: "What a bitch."

Maka sighed in relief, glad that she was gone, "She… She actually scared me. It was like she could control me for a moment there."

Shinji nodded with a nervous glance aimed at the Kiryuiin heiress, "I felt that too, but Naruto, you're really amazing, you weren't scared of her?"

The blond waved dismissively, "I'm not letting anyone walk over me, that's how I plan to live and die."

Shinji chuckled in a mixture of nervousness and slight good humor, "Man, I wish I was like that… You know, being capable to stand up to others no matter what they say."

Maka stood up and patted his back with a genuine smile on her young face, "Well, you just gotta try, I'll be cheering for you if you want me to."

"Aw shucks…" the boy said with his hand scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, trying to somehow use that to get the blood off his redder face.

And then, Ryuuko woke up, sitting up and rubbing the sand off her eyes, "Is breakfast ready…?" she half-yawned, half-asked as her hair settled down like a mop of feathers.

Naruto spoke up, "You need to get changed first, then try not to sleep into your pancakes."

Ryuuko turned to him, the sour look on her face showing how he had soured her morning with his mood, "Were you always this charming?"

"I try my best." Naruto said with a crooked smirk.

And just as the two were about to engage in their competitive smack talk, Shinji gently pushed Naruto to the cafeteria while Maka yanked Ryuuko by her pajamas' collar so they could get changed. "We'll save you a seat!" Shinji said to them out loud.

"See if you can get me a muffin!" Maka said as she waved at them with her free hand.

"And sweet bread for me!" Ryuuko shouted despite getting dragged by the smaller but unnaturally strong pigtailed girl.

"I promise nothing!" Naruto shouted back as he moved so Shinji stopped pushing him. He then grunted at the smaller boy, "Let's just go before they run out of pastries and bread…" he half-growled. Despite how ticked off he got from being pushed around by Shinji, the boy was someone he couldn't really get mad at because he meant well, and while Ryuuko did irritate him, the same issue happened, she wasn't mean, she was just annoying but not mean-spirited.

It was weird, but these people didn't give him much of a reason to be mad at them… But then he had sensed the smell of a feline nearby, "You're awfully nice to them."

Shinji turned to the voice, "Oh, it's you… umm… Blake, right?"

She nodded, now in her usual attire, bow still on top of her head, "Yeah, it is nice to meet you. I didn't quite catch your name last night."

Before Shinji could speak, the blond Faunus stood forward, "Shinji Ikari." He said with a thumb hooked to the smaller boy, and then he hooked that thumb to himself, "Naruto Uzumaki."

"Blake Belladona." The girl said as she stared at the hybrid, "You have… an interesting scent, Naruto." The girl said, trying to word her sentences around the only human in the now group of three.

"It could be because I worked out early in the morning." He said a bit dryly, making Blake wonder if he was dense until he continued, "My mother used to be like that, all mornings she'd wake me up and tell me to train with my fox-faced father while I was young. She then got me to train with Gramps, old man was strong for his age despite not standing out. He trained me to the ground in his old school martial arts, so you can blame him and my mother for me needing a deodorant."

Blake easily put together his words: a Faunus father and a human mother. "You're pretty forward, you don't even try to keep anything hidden."

"I think he's already gotten used to having friends. He's nice deep down." They turned to the one who spoke, Shinji, who smiled nervously, "What about you? You do seem pretty lonely here on your own."

"Oh, well, I enjoy staying in the shadows, better that than getting into trouble with others, it helps find friends." She said and Naruto understood her words. "I'm glad I could talk with you two. You're really nice."

"I just try to be, I guess." Shinji chuckled awkwardly, getting a faint smile from Blake.

She walked off, turning her head for the moment she needed to speak to them, "You sure are lucky to have Shinji as a friend, Naruto, not many Fauna would get along so well with humans. Sometimes for them it's better to disappear than facing the hatred that both sides share."

Shinji stared at her walking, confused, "She sure is nice but so… mysterious."

Naruto sighed, "I got to say I disagree with her…" here he clenched his right hand, "Better to make people see what you can do to get respect."

Shinji turned to his friend, his expression one of disappointment to Naruto's surprise, "I don't think that's a good option either…" he held his shoulder as he spoke in a rather melancholic tone, "I guess it's good to show you can stand on your own, but there are people who think like that and just harm others for that without any good reason." Then he shook his head, "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud."

Naruto sighed and patted his friend's back, "No, I get you… Let's just go before the girls get angry if we don't get them their food."

"Sure…" Shinji replied, still sounding rather disheartened.

Naruto spoke up, "So, who do you think is cuter, Maka or Ryuuko?"

That startled the boy, "Huh?!" he asked with a shocked, red face at the sudden question.

"I'm not bullshitting you, just answer the question honestly." The blond said calmly.

The boy grew flustered but tried to stammer a response, "W-Well… if I had to choose… Umm… Well… Maka is nice and really cheerful, and very friendly too; she does look like someone who'd hug you… But Ryuuko is rather… well, she is more grown up and looks rather cute despite her banchou attitude."

Naruto groaned, "Come on, man, you need to be more open, or at this rate girls will tease you like that Yang pest."

Shinji hung his head low, "Y-Yeah, I'd rather not have that repeat itself." He then turned to the blond, "What about you? I mean, you and Ryuuko don't get along well, but you don't seem to mean each other ill."

Naruto hummed, holding his chin as he spoke, "Well, Ryuuko's able to stand up to me without holding back, same with Maka though she is rather bossy… I don't know, man, I guess it could come up to if you like them based on their personalities with those two." He groaned, "Still, both are rather nice, even that pest was nice, if incredibly annoying when teasing me. They're the first girls who don't look at my ears and insult me for them."

"Oh… sorry…" Shinji said, looking down.

"Hey, don't sweat it, you're not like them." Naruto grumbled as he gave a light smack on the kid's back, "Listen, when we're out there, I'll find a way to get your balls to drop, how's that sound?"

Shinji sweat-dropped at the blond Faunus' attitude. "If you could use less crude terms, I'd be glad, yes."

Naruto nodded with a wild smirk on his face, "Fine, I'll try to cut my swearing unless I really need to let out steam, and you'll try to learn to kick ass."

Shinji chuckled a bit, "Sounds good for me."

Meanwhile, in the land no man entered but wished to, meaning the girls' changing room, we find the pigtailed girl without her pigtails and only her plain white panties and training bra, and Ryuuko in her white and blue striped panties and matching bra. Maka was currently letting her hair fall once taking off the bands keeping her twin tails tied, while Ryuuko stretched a bit out of her pajamas.

The banchou girl then grinned, "You have a rather cute figure, Maka."

Said girl blushed and held her hands to her still barely growing breasts, easily big enough to cover her palms and with enough room to grow, same with her round peach-shaped bottom, "I'm nowhere near you, Ryuuko, and even less the likes of Yang. And I think even Ruby who is my age is more… well, gifted."

The banchou girl hooked an arm around the petite blonde, "Come on, you got plenty room to grow. Besides, some guys do like girls who are flat. I sure wish I didn't have these." She groaned as she grabbed her breasts and moved them up to the point her bra almost popped them out, "They give you perverted looks from boys, makes some of those prissy queen bees try to show off theirs for some ego boost, or gives you a terrific back pain when not slapping you in the face if you train hard." She groaned at a few memories of perverts and girls with plastic surgery, "I never really cared about my figure, though."

Maka blushed, feeling like she was second rate, "Well, I wouldn't mind some more flesh…" she looked at her bottom, "My mother does look good so maybe… Ugh, I shouldn't think of stuff like this…" she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and grabbed new bands for her hair while looking at the banchou girl dusting her small scarf, "That's a rather cute scarf."

Ryuuko tilted her head, "Well, I guess it is, never gave it much thought. Anyway, I did have a question about you."

It was Maka's turn to tilt her head, "What is it?"

Ryuuko held a strand of mustard colored hair in between her index finger and thumb, "Why do you have your hair in pigtails? You look real cute letting it down."

Maka chuckled a bit as she expertly made her first pigtail, in a way it'd be symmetrical to the second, "If I let it flowing I could be troubled if it gets in my way."

"Oi, you shouldn't worry about that!" said a pair of massive tits… I mean, Yang, in nothing but a yellow thong. The widely grinning blonde bombshell hooked a thumb to her exposed chest, showing it was all Mother Nature and most likely making most of you male readers feel something tighten in your pants, "Us blondes should know that it's best to let it flow wild, right?" she used one of her hands to flick her hair backwards, making it move in the wind in a way it made the girls almost jealous of her golden locks and not her exposed overly-generous assets.

Ruby, currently in only a pair of white Teddy bear stamped panties and matching training bra, blushed furiously, "Yang, put something on, please!" she said while several other girls tried hard not to look at Yang's body while fighting off an incredible jealousy. Ruby understood them, their pain… she grew up with Yang, after all.

Ryuuko sighed, "Are those two really sisters?"

Maka for her part was too busy pitifully patting her chest, "Ruby must be happy, having some hope to grow…"

Ryuuko turned to look at the younger girl in shock, a cloud of depression surrounded the scythe girl, and the way Maka's once cheerful attitude fell down made the room feel way too cold, "D-damn, that's too cold… Oi, Maka, you all right?" Maka just turned to look at Ryuuko, then at Ryuuko's breasts, and then back to her own, "Hey, don't get so depressed over size, you did say you would grow, didn't you?"

"Ryuuko, do you really think flat girls can be pretty?" Maka asked as she leaned towards the girl, her depression making the banchou feel chills on her skin.

The red-streaked girl turned around, trying to find other cute flat girls, "Well… sure, why not? I mean, some men prefer cuteness over a sexy body, don't they?" she chuckled pathetically, sad to not see Nonon who competed with Maka on body figure and size, not to mention the pinkette did have some men who had looked at her last night. But without finding her, Ryuuko desperately used a last trick, her only last trick, "Hey, if you had to be honest, what kind of guy do you think you'd attract?"

Maka looked up, now confused, "Like what?"

Ryuuko sweated a bit, "Well, umm… say for example, I think the kind of guy I'd attract would be either perverts or weirdoes who are into masochism with how I act at times." She chuckled even more nervously, making shutting up seem like the best option.

Maka chuckled a bit, "I think you'd attract someone either brave enough or sweet enough to get you to cool down."

Ryuuko forced a chuckle, "Hey, no need to be so harsh on me. So, what guy do you think you'd attract?"

Maka hummed, hand on her chin, and then she spoke up, "Well… perhaps someone who likes stories like I do, or who at least can keep up with some of my issues."

It was the banchou girl's turn to smile, "I think you could get yourself a real kind guy or someone smart enough to not say bad things to you."

Maka smiled and raised her hand, gently tapping Ryuuko's head like she was using her hand like a cleaver, "Maka Chop."

Ryuuko blinked, "What's that?"

"I used to do this a lot when I got mad with someone, I would hit them hard if they insulted me saying really mean things, though." She kept one eye opened and pulled out her tongue as she used the soft version of her attack on her head, "To teach them a lesson the hard way, of course."

Ryuuko laughed a bit, "All right, I'll remember that in case Naruto starts getting on his asshole side or Shinji needs to get his shit together."

Maka smiled wider, "I'll try to help you with that."

"I'd wish you luck, but you may not need it." At the sound of that aristocratic tone to the voice, a mental alert in Ryuuko's mind blared something like 'Danger, Ryuuko Matoi! Danger! Prissy queen bee approaching!' and when the girl turned, she was rather spot on. This girl had a nice figure, and moved with the elegance of a true noble, and her breasts were rather bigger than when seen inside her dress. The girl had creamy white skin, a snow white ponytail hanging from the side in an elaborate crown-like accessory, and she was wearing a sky blue set of bras and panties.

The smile this girl had did unnerve Ryuuko a bit as she walked towards Ruby, she also noted the scar the albino girl had on her left eye which had fortunately not taken the blue orb, "My name is Weiss Schnee, Maka Albarn. I am pleased to meet one of Shibusen's most outstanding students. To think such a prodigy would get in so young without… chance meetings." Both Maka and Ryuuko noted a bit of venom at the last words, and could even tell that somewhere in Beacon, Ruby was cringing.

Maka chuckled nervously, "Well, I just want to do my best. I love studying so books aren't much of a problem. I still need proper experience with my scythe and I think Beacon can handle that."

Weiss waved her hand dismissively, smile back in place, "Either way, you were recommended by the noble Death the Kidd and his very father. Your strength has gotten you to high places. And thus I have wondered, where an outstanding individual such as yourself be comfortable in." she smiled a bit more sweetly as she got closer to Maka, "Think about it, Maka, you managed to calm down that Faunus boy so easily, you have what it takes to keep things in check. I'd be delighted to have a teammate such as yourself, and I bet everyone in here would."

"That's really nice and all but… I was hoping to perhaps be with someone I've met already. Nothing personal, Weiss, I just made a few friends here." The blonde girl said nervously.

Weiss was taken back, but then managed to smile again, "Well, just so you know I'd be delighted to leave a spot for you. Perhaps also one of your friends, like your friend here, she does seem rather strong, the other boy though may need more than a little help."

Ryuuko growled, "Oi, before making any calls on anyone, make sure you see what they're capable of."

Weiss sneered at the banchou girl, now losing her cool, but not enough to make herself look bad before Ruby… yet, "Please, I am only looking for a teammate I could get along with. I also enjoy studying like Maka here, so what do you have in common asides from some interesting acquaintances in Beacon?" she then turned to the banchou girl, "Besides, Kiryuiin herself has made it clear she wants Maka and even those two other boys with her. Whatever she sees in all of you, I'll give you a piece of advice, don't let your guard down around that bitch."

Ryuuko was now shocked. Weiss' demeanor had completely changed when talking about Kiryuiin, the same Satsuki Kiryuiin she had been chasing. So she had to ask, "What do you know about her?"

Weiss smiled in a sarcastic way, "More than you know, and far more than I want to know." She admitted the last part, before turning to Maka, "I hope you are comfortable, Maka, and that whoever you're friends with can keep up against Kiryuiin and her goons, for your own good."

Maka watched her go, and soon tried to voice Naruto's thoughts when meeting Satsuki, in her own way, "She's a… bit of a…"

Ryuuko beat her to the punch, "I believe the word you're looking for is bitch."

Maka chuckled at that boldness, "I was going to say princess with issues, but you're not off."

XXXXXX

After the girls got dressed, and after a nice breakfast which was gotten thanks to Naruto using his glare on a poor boy trying to get the last muffin and sweet bread, the group of friends sat around each other watching the others talk. Groups were already forming and it seemed people really wanted to be with others. There was a quirky redhead who spoke incredibly fast to a guy with a ponytail and a pink streak on his black hair, there was a blond guy who tried to flirt with a few of the girls, getting no result though, and they could make out the acquaintances they made last night, with Ruby drinking a large glass of milk and thus getting a white mustache that Yang wiped off with a large grin and a laugh as the petite red riding hood struggled to get it done herself.

They didn't speak much while eating but it was a bit meaningless such as questioning what could the initiation be. Maka thought of a two part exam with written and physical parts, Shinji hoped it'd be a fight with low level Grimm, Naruto guessed it could be a battle royale with all the students gladiator style, and Ryuuko just said she wanted to kick some ass regardless of who she'd have to face. They each decided to see rather than guess since either way they'd have to do it.

Now they were at the locker room, with everyone getting their weapons ready. Maka blinked once she witnessed Shinji taking apart his rifle in record time only to mount it again every time he noticed the smallest of flaws. More than a perfectionist he seemed to be a paranoid. Ryuuko for her part just took out her scissor blades from her briefcase and hefted them on her shoulder. Maka just kept her foldable scythe in its briefcase form nearby. But Naruto was the one who caught her eye.

"You're going out without a weapon?" she heard Ryuuko the taller blond.

Naruto was simply putting on bandages on his arms and bare feet as he sat on a bench, "Trust me, I can do much more damage with my bare hands than with any sort of weapon."

The banchou girl smiled, "I'd love to see it soon, honestly." She sat beside him with her cheerful, cocky grin, "I just noticed something… For all the tough guy attitude you try to put up, you're really nice to talk to when you're with the likes of Maka and Shinji."

Naruto focused on his bandages as he spoke, "I was raised by two loving parents and had a nice old fart teaching me martial arts. They were the nicest people around, but when I compared them to most people…" here he raised his already bandaged right hand to point at his ears, "This is what those people see first, and you can get the idea that no matter what those three nice people tried to do, they couldn't change how people would treat me." And then he slammed his fist into his palm, taking her attention, "That's why I became a hunter, to show them that I can stand tall and proud no matter what they think of me."

Ryuuko's smile turned purely genuine as she moved closer to him, "I… kind of want something different." She chuckled a bit, "My old fart was always busy, never paid much attention but he damn well tried…" she shook her head at the memories, "Always getting busy no matter how much I screwed up. Hell, at times he'd never see me even if I made big messes. Others I wondered if I…"

Naruto groaned and grabbed her head, speaking in his gruff tone of annoyance, "If you say anything about him thinking badly of you, I'm going to punch whoever put that in your head…" he growled, irritated, "I fucking hate the word failure. Everyone can be a genius in everything, if they mess up, then they must learn to stand up and fix things themselves. It's that simple, ok? So if your father didn't pay much attention to you, who cares? You still stood up to me despite how I tent to talk like an asshole."

Maka smiled warmly at him, "You're really nice when you try to."

Shinji had finally fishing assembling his rifle and stood towards them, "You're a real soft guy deep down, Naruto." He commented as he put a sling on his weapon and around his shoulder so he didn't lose it.

Naruto sighed and kept on adjusting his bandages, "It's because you three are nice to me… Even that Yang girl is nice."

"Oh, Fishcake, I knew you had a heart!"

And just then the Annoyance, as Naruto had decided to call Yang, had come crashing down on him for a bear hug, boobs to face. Maka flushed a deep red as she watched Naruto struggle for air, Ryuuko was currently laughing her ass off at the Faunus' predicament, and Shinji looked frightened, like every other day for him. Yang held the whiskered boy tightly with his head on her chest, smothering the life out of him while Naruto got mouthfuls of massive chest. Not a bad way to die, but fortunately for him Yang let him go soon, though she seemed unaware of what she did… either that or she did so on purpose.

Now with air back into his lungs, Naruto sneered at the chipper girl, "I hate you…" he growled deeply.

Yang smirked, "Come on, Fishcake, you know you need more loving, and you are fun to tease as Maka and I said. Besides, you finally said something nice of me so don't be a hypocrite. I know you mean love with those words, not hate!" She sang with a mile wide smile. The other three humans were ready to stop Naruto from lunging at her.

Naruto forced himself to calm down, knowing Yang wasn't mean-spirited, just either thick or purposely annoying, but not mean-spirited, "Why did you even come here for? Don't you have a little sister to look after or something? Speaking of which, where's Ruby?"

Yang's smile fell down a bit, "Well, I kinda was wondering who you guys think you'd be more comfortable with?" she held her arm as she spoke, "Ruby's rather shy around people, the few friends she has are back home and I got several friends here so I don't have much to worry. I'd like to see her break out of her shell and be with people as nice as you two, right now all the company she has in here are yours truly and her sweetheart."

"She already has a boyfriend?" Maka asked with a raised brow, humming to herself, '_It does feel a bit unfair, she's the same age as I and all…_'

Yang waved dismissively, "That's how she talks of her weapon." She hooked a thumb behind her, and the other two blondes had to sweat-drop as they saw Ruby cradle and purr as she held her scythe-gun.

Shinji sweat-dropped, "Ok, that is creepy and more than disturbing…"

Yang nodded, "My thoughts exactly. So, considering you are some of the few guys to be nice to her, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind looking after her? I know she can take care of herself, but she will need some friends. I also know this sounds rather stupid but… well, I'm her big sister, I just worry for her."

None of the bizarre acquaintances looked at Yang, but the red-streaked girl spoke, "I promise nothing, but if someone makes her cry, I can punch them for you. Is that good enough?"

Her answer came as a mouthful of breasts in the form of a hug, just like Naruto. Said blond chuckled at the girl's misfortune while the other shorter hunter hopefuls wondered how to save their friend. "Thanks, girl pal!" Yang said loudly, and then turned and winked at Naruto and Shinji, "And just so you know, you can't date her! Mostly because you have someone like me around, boys." said the grinning Yang as the struggling Ryuuko tried to get some air. Then she spotted Ruby, "Speak of the devil, gotta go now!" and like that she left to greet her sister, leaving Ryuuko's face unmolested.

Ryuuko gasped as she looked at the energetic girl, "I think I prefer Mako's hugs to hers." She mumbled under her breath.

Naruto voiced his cynical thoughts, "I really think she tries hard to tick people off."

Maka elbowed gently him with a smile, "She's just herself, so try to get used to it. You may end up in her team."

Naruto groaned at the idea. At that same time, someone else had groaned, Shinji. "She reminds me of Misato… It's kind of scary to tell the truth."

Ryuuko looked at the sky, and then at her rack, pulling her blouse to see herself better before voicing her thoughts, "I think she's on Mako's bra range."

Maka blushed furiously at such statement, "Ryu-Ryuuko, how can you say something like that so nonchalantly?!" she asked with a horrified expression.

Ryuuko shrugged, "Hey, it's the truth. Mako may be small in height but she's got some-"

"No, don't say it!" Maka shouted as she waved her arms furiously.

Naruto waved dismissively, "No, let her, I'm interested."

Shinji, despite having a small blush, nodded, "Yes, it sounds rather… ahem… informative…"

Maka groaned, her hand slapping her face, "Ugh… I'll… be going on ahead, meet me at the place where the initiation must take place."

A simple thought crossed their minds, '_She's got a real bad complex._'

XXXXXX

"Who the Hell came up with this idea?!" After listening to Jaune's cries of horror, every single student in Beacon did their best to land while simultaneously listening to Shinji crying out loud in sheer horror since he was the first person to be launched. The poor boy even had tears rolling from his face as he moved his arms in the air, all of the other students rushing the forest where the task waited for them.

Maka unfolded her scythe and nailed herself to a tree, did a flip on the pole before landing on top of it with practiced ease to scout the area for possible partners. Shinji for his part had grown tired of the Jaune-Tactic of screaming his head off and pulled out his knife, nailing the blade on a tree he passed by the side and slowing down his fall while leaving a large cut in the log with his assault rifle still in place thanks to the sling he had. Naruto for his part just roared while rearing back a foot as he neared the forest before flipping in the air and kicking the tree he would have crashed, his foot and body going right through it and five more until he landed, rolled, and started to run without much trouble. Ryuuko for her part took out her scissor blades as she fell down, took the blades apart, twirled them, and with a perfect dexterity used both blades as brakes by nailing them on a tree, the momentum making her spiral around it to a stop at the bottom.

Now that they were all in the forest the first question was with who would they be paired with.

Sadly for them, someone else had plans, "You sure you want us to follow them?" Uzu asked Satsuki through an ear piece, Inumuta by his side.

Nonon who was with Satsuki hundreds of yards away could be heard growling, "Make sure you keep them in your sights, monkey. We have to deal with Matoi and perhaps whoever she's partnered with if they're competent. Lady Satsuki has this planned for a reason, so don't screw it up."

Inumuta chuckled, "As always, the wit of your commentary is outstanding."

Satsuki spoke up before her subordinates got into a fight, "All of you have your orders. Sanageyama, Inumuta, make sure you have a proper research on Uzumaki. I'll have my eyes on Matoi and see if she's any danger to us."

Uzu chuckled, grabbing his shinai, "Don't worry, Lady Satsuki, this will be fun… for us, that is."

**XXXXXX  
**

**And that's my rap!**

**Next chapter: total chaos!**

**Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter, I do apologize for taking some screen-time focused on Naruto but then again he is like my main in this, like an RPG game if you want to think that way. Heh, a friend and I always said RWBY should've been an epic videogame a la Devil May Cry 3 to make it better known and more enjoyable.**

**And quick question: what did you think I'd do with the Angels of Evangelion? If you guessed "Making them S-class Grimm" then you're correct! Get yourself a cookie! I didn't make the FF6 Sabin comment for nothing, I really want Naruto to suplex something like that badass.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	5. Chapter 5

I OWN NOTHING

There are times in which my good and evil sides must put aside their differences and fight so they can live another day writing fics and thinking of good ways to take NARUTO from Kishimoto, respectively.

_WARNING_: I said I'd experiment with interactions, and thus I'll see how things go with how I pictured them first, so if you don't like it then stop reading and don't make an ass of yourself by flaming.

**XXXXXX**

Unexpected welcomed friends

As Professor Ozpin watched the students fly and land he enjoyed his latest mug of coffee, making mental notes on what to add and what to take from this blend to make his perfect drink even more heavenly. With a satisfied sigh, he turned around to come face to face with some of his most trustworthy teachers, Glynda as always stood by him as if she were his shadow.

"My, my, Oz… You sure like to roughen them up." Said a man with a voice too laidback to be normal. Said man had and outfit consisting of a loosened white buttoned shirt pulled out of his pants, worn out pants, equally old looking shoes, and a loosened black tie. He had shaggy blue hair covering his skull like a mop, a face that needed shaving, and aviator sunglasses keeping his appearance even more of a mystery, "Seeing all those new recruits fly off makes me want to loosen up my-"

He was cut short when Glynda's riding crop found itself next to his Adam's apple. Her glare could have easily melted icebergs, "You shall keep your clothes or get kicked out, that was our deal, Mikisugi."

The shaggy man chuckled as he scratched the back of his messy hair, "Come on, Glynda, I've been watching over Matoi for you. Regardless of her back-story we both know she's more than good enough to fight for more than what we stand here for."

"I'm still very surprised you let Uzumaki in." said a gruffer, bigger, buffer man. He had black hair spiked up, several bandages covering the lower half of his face, and as said before he was buff, having strength enough to carry a massive cleaver on his back. He wore only a pair of gray camouflage pants and bandaged gauntlets. He looked at his right hand, clenching it in a fist, "I still owe his father for that time he fought me, but… considering how he helped me, I guess I'll return him the favor."

The first shaggy man chuckled, "Come on, you should know when to let yourself go and relax… Otherwise, our efforts for the Fauna will be meaningless if you're too serious…"

"Enough." Ozpin said in a calculating, commanding voice as he stared at his teachers, "I know it will sound wrong of me, but we are using this kids for our own purposes. I'd like to see all of you show respect for them and their merits."

The trio nodded, "Yes, sir."

Ozpin sighed and drank the remains of his cup, "We shouldn't wait long, I do have that feeling again, when I met their parents and they surprised me…"

A voice growled, one that wasn't happy with Ozpin using the kids, "What of Shinji, then? You know how his father is like and what he'd do to others for his own madness. You know what he tried to do to his own son, and I was lucky to be there!" Misato said loudly to the man with a stern glare.

The principal just walked, but spoke loud enough for his most trusted men to hear him, "These kids are the ones who will choose their destiny… If we're to believe something, it is that they won't make the same mistakes as we did all those years ago, before it all started."

The blue haired man with glasses chuckled, "He always must be cryptic, don't you think?"

The burlier man groaned, "I'll just get ready for my training, if that kid is anything like his father, I won't let him reach me until he cries blood!"

Misato gave the man a deadpan expression, "Way to hold a grudge… That was years ago when you both were still kids, for crying out loud! What's got you so hooked on Minato's kid?!"

The tank of a man turned with a face that showed pure fury, "He dared to mock my lack of eyebrows!" he shouted as he pointed at his truthfully missing facial hair, "That blond idiot even dared to paint fake ones with a marker that ended up dissolving and making me look like a panda!"

A tumbleweed blew in the wind, and Ozpin took it as his cue to speak, "I'm getting more coffee, does anyone want some?"

"Yes, please." The shaggy man said with a raised hand.

"I'd prefer tea." Glynda said calmly.

Misato grunted, "Why do you never have beer around?"

The browless man stared uselessly as they just left him, a second tumbleweed passing by him and making his anger boil. Meanwhile, on the trees around the cliff, a figure watched it all, and put their eyes in Naruto, "If Master Zabuza is so interested in him, I may have to test my abilities sooner or later."

And with that, the forest got some company.

XXXXXX

"Why me…?"

Shinji moaned in more misery than exhaustion as he adjusted his small assault rifle that he used for sniping. He had been walking all alone in the forest with his weapon and while the ten pounds weren't much of a problem despite his physique thanks to Misato's training, walking and carrying his weapon got tiring. At least the sling lessened the burden but he sure could use a rest. Moments ago he had been catapulted from a cliff and managed to land without dying, and that was tiring due to the adrenaline rush no longer moving him on instinct.

Thus, he walked to calm himself, his nerves, and be ready for any enemy that could come from anywhere, all so he were rested to do what he could do best, run. He looked at the sky and chuckled mirthlessly, "Heh, I wonder how the other are doing. Naruto must be having a blast cracking skulls, Maka sure seems good with her scythe so she mustn't have much problem, even Ryuuko looks like she can handle herself… They're so… confident but not arrogant, even when Ryuuko and Naruto talk smack, they don't seem overconfident…" he looked down at his weapon, a bit of melancholy hitting him, "They really are something else…" he chuckled then, not sure why until he heard himself speaking, "They're also really nice…"

Almost like a present vision, he had a flashback of a girl with long red hair and of her companion who had a blue bob cut, the first speaking at him, "_Listen, we're here only to do our job, that academy was too easy and had too many teachers with too many stupid rules. We're not the kind to follow stupid rules, but since we owe Misato a favor, we'll take you in, so you better don't slack off!_"

He chuckled at that harsh German accent, "In the end I think I got stronger… but how much…?"

It happened in an instant, something rushed from behind Shinji at such a ridiculous speed he barely had time to turn. It was a Beowulf, identified by its seven to eight foot tall humanoid body covered in black fur with a wolfish tail and head, and the lack of mercy in its red eyes. In that same instant, Shinji's eyes went blank from the shock, and he did it. He sidestepped the charge, took aim, and a good fire Dust bullet went into the werewolf like Grimm, piercing through its skull and burning its brain to grant instantaneous death.

Almost in a monotone, the boy held his rifle tighter and high, knowing this Grimm hunted in packs, "I… I can do it…" he told himself his mantra as he lined the sights.

Then the sound of something rushing through the wind, sailing as it cut through the air, came to his ears from his side. He could make out only one sound despite it being two objects, for they moved in unison. In one second, a Beowulf had lost its legs, its torso sliding off from his limbs, just as his head did from the stump on his neck. Shinji's eyes widened in surprise and joy as he saw who it was: his favorite banchou girl.

"Heard some shooting, glad I found you." Ryuuko grinned as she twirled both her now separate blades in her hands, hefted the right one on her shoulder and then had the shorter one aimed at Shinji, "Behind you." She said, and as if on cue, another Beowulf lunged from behind Shinji. The teen responded by ducking the instant he heard its claws swiping, he rolled down to lay on his back, took aim at its exposed lower jaw, and the projectile went right through the throat, the mouth, and the brain, burning all three.

"Thanks!" Shinji said as he rolled away from the falling dead Grimm and raced towards Ryuuko.

The girl grinned as she put the swords together in their scissors form, "No need, partner." She said with glee in her drawl, "Let's kill as many of these mutts as we can, we gotta boast for my- I mean, our next smack talk with Whiskers."

Shinji laughed embarrassed at that, a drop of sweat dripping behind his head, "I should've guessed that's what had you fired up."

XXXXXX

"Atchoo! Ugh… Is someone thinking about me or what?" Naruto asked himself as he wiped his nose with the back of his index finger. "Meh, whatever, if it was a cute girl then that'd be more fun than this walk… Tch, dad's genes are kicking up again… He was a good guy but… damn, I wonder how mom put up with him."

Then he raised his foot, and brought it down on a large black furry beast. It had the body of a bear, only burlier, rounder, with a red-streaked white bone mask covering its face with a mouth filled to the brim with sharp teeth. His right bare foot crushed the beast's skull, killing it instantly as he looked at his surroundings, hands up and balled into fists, and his usual scowl back.

Had one gone back in time, they could've seen the Grimm known as an Ursa rush the blond Faunus, only to be met with a growling Naruto's face right in between their eyes. The blond had turned, weaved around a claw swipe that could've taken an amateur's head off, and heard and saw how his knuckles sunk into the bone mask while the sharp claws missed his right cheek by half an inch. The force behind his punch was powerful enough to create a gale of wind that blasted behind the beast's head, like someone had fired an air canon through its skull. The sound of the impact was similar to a shotgun's shell hitting a target, and had the same impact.

Naruto had company, furry, angry company in the form of more Ursa. So seeing and hearing that he'd be busy, he changed his stance into a more furious one, "Let me show you the will of fire my Gramps passed on me, you Teddy bastards!" The blond spread his legs, his arms to his side as he watched one of the bear Grimm lunging at him.

In most situations, unarmed combat would mean suicide against the Grimm as well as running at them to tackle the Ursa. The blond couldn't care less about statistics and their math, he hated math. So he tackled the Ursa just as it tried to claw off his head, wrapped his arms around its furry body, and gave a powerful jump high into the air. His feet even left an imprint on the grassy ground as he and the Ursa were airborne while the blond started to flip both backwards, using the momentum to turn them upside down, and then slammed the bear's head on the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

The bear fell limply to its side, dead, while Naruto rolled to stand up. On top of a nearby branch, watching in shock, Inumuta had finally stopped typing at what he just saw, "That was a fucking suplex…"

Sanageyama gripped his shinai tighter, "I heard him run, tackle the Ursa, and jump with it, I thought he'd try to pummel it but this guy is just ridiculous."

Inumuta pushed up his glasses, "He's not human, and let's add to his semblance possibly being strength from what we saw, and we got someone brutal… but without a brain." He then turned with a smug look at his samurai-ish companion, "I can see why Lady Satsuki would think of him to replace you, you think alike too much."

Sanageyama grinned, a small laugh escaping him, "Say what you want, I want that fight with him sooner than later. Maybe then my eyes will push me further to Lady Satsuki's level."

The dog sighed, "Typical of you, always thinking on the fight… Oh?" he noted someone that caught his eye.

In front of a bush below them, Maka observed the blond as his fists collided with the Ursa before him, punching them so hard that one could confuse those blows with a canon. He was even sending some of them flying back only to slam their bodies into a tree, bounce, and get treated to a lariat that flipped them several times in the air. The girl had to admit he was strong and skilled, but perhaps not as skilled as her. The guy preferred brute force and to let his anger guide him, and he was good at it. Now with a smile she jumped to meet her now partner with a happy smile that froze him for a second, pulled her scythe, and just as Naruto turned to face an Ursa behind him, she had cut the bear diagonally making sure to take both lungs, the heart, and even the liver in a single slash.

She then gave him a cheeky grin while both halves of the bear fell down. "You're doing good."

Naruto growled a bit, "That one was mine… I just didn't want to hit you when I saw you… But…" he groaned as he scratched the back of his head, which an Ursa took as its chance to lung at the blond, immediately getting a haymaker right in the jaw, "Thanks, I guess I do owe you one now."

Maka giggled, "Yang's right, you can be cute when being nice." She said as she hefted her scythe on her shoulder and two Ursa tried to reach her… only to stop the second they were within two feet from her. That moment, her scythe was down, and soon the bears fell down with their heads missing, "We should get moving, or else the smell of the dead will attract more."

Naruto shook his head, "I can take care of them." he slammed his fist into his palm for emphasis.

Maka really didn't want to fight so she tried to be a bit sterner, "Listen, Naruto, we can't waste time, what if some Grimm gets to teams where the relics are and in the middle of a fight they break?"

The blond widened his eyes as he stepped back, a hand now on his chin as he looked worriedly at the ground, "Man, that'd suck… Ugh… Fine, I guess graduating is more important than getting rid of these bastards." He then started walking, following Maka… only to stop as soon as the blonde girl did so too, her eyes wide in surprise.

"It's good to see you together, Uzumaki, Albarn. To think you'd end up as partners, it's like destiny has granted me my very wish to have some of the best partners I could ask for." Ever cold and stoic, Satsuki Kiryuiin stood before the duo of blondes.

Naruto gritted his teeth and fists, "I prefer to think of it as anything but destiny, after all, each man should craft their own fate with their fists."

Satsuki grinned as she looked at the two, while Nonon herself stood by her side in the same manner Glynda did with Ozpin, the pinkette smirked, "You sure have lots of guts, wild fox. Talking to Lady Satsuki that way won't get you far…" she said with a fake sweet smile and lots of venom in her voice.

Maka stared at the older but still flat-as-her girl, "And who are you?"

Satsuki waved to get the duo's attention, "Her name is Nonon Jakuzure, and in her behalf I shall apologize to both of you for her last words. However…" the two blondes watched as Satsuki moved her right hand to her left hip, a pure white katana and wakizashi combo hanging there, with the katana having a strange guard to keep it sealed shut to the sheath while the wakizashi had no guard.

And just then and there, the two blondes just heard the wind pass by them… and their eyes widened when an Ursa fell in between them, cut vertically in half. Naruto raised his fists, "That's some neat Iaidou you got there." He half-complimented, half stated with a warning as he kept his arms up for a fight.

Satsuki gave him a ghost of a grin, "As I was saying… you two still lack more power and skills. Which is why I'll make this short and direct." She said, ignoring what Naruto just said, her hand extended to them, "Please, lend me your power so I can help you shape your futures into brighter tomorrows."

Naruto glared as he watched the young woman's pride. It wasn't arrogance, she wasn't confident, she just knew what she was doing and was sure of it because she was strong. The sheer thought of what she could do if serious didn't picture well in his mind, but then again, if his Gramps taught him anything was to never back down. He was determined to stand up and give this girl a piece of his mind… until his new partner walked to the taller girl with bushy eyebrows.

Nonon forced a grin, "See, wild fox? Your friend is at least smart enough t… what're you doing?" the pinkette asked as the pigtailed schoolgirl approached her… and swung her scythe

If Naruto wasn't surprised at Maka, he sure was now as she glared at the now breathless Nonon who turned her face behind her, "Sorry, but I'm happier with the friends I have… I'd like to be in Ryuuko's team if I can get that chance." The ashy blonde girl said with her ever sweet smile as her scythe folded, and an Ursa that had lunged at Nonon fell down, its head cut diagonally in half to get the brain and most vital tissues in its skull.

Satsuki sighed, her eyes now closed as she remained where she was, silently telling them they could go as she added her personal thoughts, "It'll be a shame then."

Despite the ever cold and almost emotionless tone of her voice, Maka managed to get out a smile, "Sorry, but I've made my mind." She then turned to her partner, "Let's go meet our friends, Naruto."

He watched her walk off, grinning with an eyebrow raised, "She's got guts." He completely complimented her.

XXXXXX

Shinji and Ryuuko walked together with the first keeping his rifle near at all costs and the second having used her scroll to store music was currently using the portable screen device to download and listen to some music, mostly music by her favorite pop artists, Jeff Williams and Aoi Eir. The first was popular because of his mixtures of rock and other genres combined with rock music, while the second was a rather good singer who somehow connected to Ryuuko's soul every time she started to sing.

The shy boy watched as his tomboyish banchou partner nodded her head without a care in the world to her beats, even doing air guitars though they didn't last long and didn't have more than her arms moving up and down. He actually had to chuckle at how laidback Ryuuko could be in a hostile environment and how she saw it as a game. He did know it was foolish and could get them killed, so for both their sakes he tried to remain serious and would turn around for any sound around them while his trigger finger kept itself firmly pressed to pull and shoot to kill.

"Oh Hell yeah!" he jumped as Ryuuko pumped a happy fist, "Sanbika, man I love this song!" she grinned and turned to Shinji, pulling one of her headphones to hand it to him, "Hey, tell me what you think of this song. Good, isn't it?" Shinji looked at her trying to question why she was so calm in an environment meant to kill… but knowing what she could do, he took the headphone and listened. After a few seconds, his head started to move up and down and he had to control tapping his foot on the ground, which made her grin more, "See? That's good music to get you pumped up and lively!"

He chuckled, "I… I guess… I used to listen to less, well, energetic songs most of my life."

Ryuuko patted his back, "Well, you got me to tell you what good new and old songs to listen to. Anyway, what were you used to?"

He tried to smile, "Well, I always listened to Akira Yamaoka... He… Bunny…" he paused, his last words echoing in Ryuuko's mind.

"He-Bunny? Who's that?" she asked, for some reason picturing a rabbit in a fur loincloth holding a massive lightning infused broadsword over its furry, long-eared head.

Shinji stopped and pointed a finger forward, and sure enough a snow white bunny was walking around the trees, calmly grabbing a few leaves to chew. The timid sniper chuckled, "Sorry, I just got surprised to see one in this kind of place, Ryuuko… Um… Ryuuko…?" he stared, simply stared, as his partner's eyes turned around, her hands holding her scissor swords.

"We're not alone… That rabbit is from places where there's usually snow." Trust the words about rabbits if they come from a girl who has bunny pajamas.

The two got back to back, staring at the forest that surrounded them, and then someone appeared. It was… hard to say which gender they had. This person looked too much like a girl but at the same time Ryuuko had a few doubts since she couldn't see much of a chest. Shinji was a little girly himself in appearance, but if the one before them turned out to be male then he didn't want to think of what it could do to a man who realized that all too late. The individual had dark black hair done in a white bun holder on top of their head, with long bangs framing their face, and wore a pink kimono with no sleeves.

"Sorry for the intrusion." The individual said with a sweet smile that made both Ryuuko and Shinji feel generally confused on whether or not this person had a Y chromosome or they were seeing things.

"Who are you?" Shinji asked, gripping his rifle tightly.

"I'm Haku, and I'm no enemy." The now identified Haku said, "I'm a disciple of a hunter from this school and was intrigued by the newcomers around…" that sweet smile returned, making both Shinji and Ryuuko ask themselves what was wrong with the universe for not giving them a clear answer on what Haku had hanging in between his/her knees.

Ryuuko did register Haku's words, "So what're you looking for? Trying to get ahead of us by analyzing us and crap?"

A shake from Haku's head and a smile calmed the two a bit, "No, I was just having fun watching you two."

Ryuuko's face turned red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "So you're a stalker?!" she shouted, pulling back one of her jacket's sleeves to go and pummel this girly… person.

Shinji stepped behind the girl and held her from behind, his arms hooked around her arm-pits, which sadly got him dragged by the stronger girl, "R-Ryuuko, please calm down! I'm sure Haku has a good reason to say that! Maybe it's just a joke!" he shouted, trying to have sense reach the banchou girl.

Haku nodded, "Yes, I do. You see, this forest has some interesting herbs I have been looking for and that my pet rabbit enjoys." Haku said while moving towards the bunny, patting its head with a smile, "You don't need to worry, as I've said, I will not interfere in this tournament or else my master could get in trouble." Haku then turned to Shinji and pulled a small vial from the pink kimono, "But I guess I could give you something with more strength than Dust to keep yourselves safe."

Shinji looked at the vial and accepted it, looking with a raised eyebrow at it, "It's a serum… Huh, it's a rather strong one at that, this could heal…"

Haku nodded, "I'm training to become a medic in the field of battle, so I am glad to help you. I don't like fighting or the idea of killing but for the people I care about I wouldn't hold back." Haku gave them another sweet smile, making the duo of dark haired future hunters feel both flustered and confused, "Tell me, do you have someone you love that you want to protect?"

Ryuuko stared at the medic but couldn't come up with anything. She tried to think for a bit, but in the end she came up with one answer, "I…" What could she say? That the person she once loved was already dead? Her father was the only family she had and he wasn't going to talk to her at all, even less raise from his grave.

To her luck, Shinji spoke up, "I don't have anyone I can say I love but… I want to protect my mother…" here he chuckled, "If I think about it like that, I also want to protect my mentor Misato. There are a few people who I at least met that I want to protect, even if we never really clicked." Here he pictured once again the redhead and the azure head who he fought with.

Ryuuko stared at him and thought a bit longer… people she had met… "I have my best friend, Mako. She's a bit of a pain at times but a good person. There's also her family, her mother is sweet and while her father and little brother act like idiots… I couldn't picture myself having fun without them around." She admitted, a bit embarrassed that she hadn't thought of them.

Haku giggled, "I never said it had to be someone who you'd be in a deep relationship, but I'm glad you have people you love as much."

"Thank- Where did he… she… whatever, where did Haku go?!" He had just blinked and then Haku was there no more.

Ryuuko blinked, "W-What the?! How can someone move so fast?!" she turned her head around to find the effeminate individual.

Shinji started to panic, "D-Do you think Haku could have been a… well… spirit?" he gripped his rifle tighter, "Ozpin did say people could die here so…" he let his unfinished words fly as both knew them.

Ryuuko felt a chill run down her spine at the thought; Haku had rather pale skin, "Don't talk bullshit, Shinji. There's no way something like ghosts exist. We just… we just got tired and had the same hallucination."

The poor boy held up Haku's gift, "But Haku gave me this vial and it is real!"

Ryuuko shook her head, "Well, whatever, let's just get to the relics before it gets late."

Both started to walk forward, unable to listen to Haku's giggling, "They sure are fun. Guess I'll have to find this Uzumaki later, Master Zabuza needs his medicine." And without anyone knowing, Haku was gone from the forest.

XXXXXX

"It seems getting Uzumaki and Albarn to join us won't be easy, and Matoi has already joined forces with Ikari. This will prove difficult but it seems we have no choice but go together."

Nonon forced a chuckle, "Wasn't that our original plan?"

Satsuki sighed, "I wished to have more people working along us who could be on our same levels, but it seems Nikos has already gotten a partner and anyone else who showed promise are making their own groups. Humans always make the strangest of choices, after all." She held her swords tightly, looking at the path forward where she would meet Naruto and Maka sooner or later, "In the end, I guess we shall see where they really stand, before showing them one of my gifts to truly test their unleashed, unlimited might."

As she said that, her loyal underlings each grinned as they mimicked her. Each took out a differently colored armband, meant to go on their left biceps. Satsuki's was a dark blue, Houka's a lighter shade of blue, Uzu's was a dark green, and Nonon's was pink. Each armband had a special needle to drain the slightest amount of blood into them, and a special purified dust that only a few individuals knew of.

"Let's see what Iori's latest models can do." Sanageyama chuckled as he readied his hand to drive the needle into his arm, only to be stopped when he watched a dark blade drawn. He watched as Satsuki drew out her katana, a pitch black metal blade coming out from the sheath.

Satsuki spoke up as she walked forward, "You're not meant to use them unless you absolutely need them, I still want to see how high you all stand without someone else's power." She then turned to her companions, "I know for a fact this forest houses a very powerful kind of Grimm… an S-class, to be exact."

Her underlings' eyes went wide… only to close themselves as they nodded, "So this will be our test to be on your level. I see, and I accept." Sanageyama said methodically as he swung out his shinai.

Nonon giggled, "Wherever Satsuki goes I shall be there and stand as tall." She said, though in her mind she had images flashing of herself standing on top of that annoying Maka girl for showing her off, daring to stand out in front of Nonon's best friend.

Houka just pushed up his glasses, "I only want to recollect the data, nothing else, but this should be a good test if you're so willing to take the risks."

Satsuki grinned, "Let us go, that Grimm, the legendary Angel type, mustn't be far off from here according to Gamagoori's investigation."

They walked forward, knowing that they'd get into the fight of their lives, but a grin spread on their faces for the challenges.

Meanwhile, Maka looked up in the sky as Naruto followed her, the Faunus stopped as he looked at her, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I just… felt something awful around here." She turned to the blond with a nervous look, "I have a special semblance to read my surroundings, and just now I swear I sensed something extremely foul. It was like a Grimm, only that for a second I thought I sensed a soul in it, a very dark and murderous soul."

Naruto raised a brow, "A Grimm with a soul? Does something like that truly exist?"

Maka shook her head, "Whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's move."

He could see she wasn't happy at the thought of such a creature, so as they moved forward he tried to take her mind off that, "Yeah… so… random question but: what can you sense from me and the others? I mean, Shinji, Ryuuko and I?"

She chuckled honestly, "Why? Afraid I could find something bad about you?"

Naruto grunted, but inwardly he felt more at ease now that Maka was back to her cheerful self, "As if, I just felt curious."

Maka closed her eyes and recalled what she saw in her memories, "Well… Shinji's aura is one of constant fear but, deep down, I think there's a part of him that wants to break free out of that."

He chuckled with a cocky smirk, "Could've told you that myself."

She winked and smiled sweetly at the brawler, "No, but I am telling you because you asked."

That did annoy him, but he managed to keep it down and admit his mistake, "Tch… touché." That was all Maka would get from him, but it still made her smile as she continued.

"Ryuuko's aura is, well, very similar to yours, both of you are full of confidence, and I can sense a heat when the chance for battle is there. I think you are really proud of your fighting abilities."

He chuckled again, "Heh, could have told you that too."

"But you still asked." She said, feeling a bit more satisfied.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Well, not so much as total chaos but I got things moving. Didn't know the interactions would be this long but I'm happy with them.**

**And yes, the pairings are STILL undecided. I already planned Naruto to be Maka's partner and Ryuuko be Shinji's. Not sure if I will make them couples yet or anything, I'm just making them interact after the little interaction between said duos.**

**If this experiment doesn't work and these couples don't make me feel satisfied, then I'll see what I can do in the long run. If you guys try to tell me to change things to your liking then I will rip off three of your own vertebrae, curl your spines back, and force you to eat your own ass. Well, not really, I'll just tell you to keep an open mind as I always have.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	6. Chapter 6

I OWN NOTHING

To put things into perspective, I am having too much fun thinking on what to do with four protagonists instead of one. I know it's weird but while it's more work, it's also a fun challenge.

_WARNING:_ I'm making the Angels of a smaller scale, please have some patience since making them the size of a skyscraper isn't gonna be fair for the heroes considering most fights will be without mechas.

**XXXXXX**

Free the anger

"Is she following us?" Maka asked her partner.

He shook his head, his ears twitching a bit, "I think she's changed routes, but don't let your guard down."

The pigtailed girl sighed, "Satsuki Kiryuiin… she doesn't seem the type to give up on what she wants."

Naruto snorted, "Neither am I." he said with a grin.

Maka gave him a concerned glance, "We should be careful if we have to fight her after what we saw." She said to try to keep things in check, "She barely put any effort in that attack and I didn't even see it."

"Doesn't mean we can't try." Naruto said as he clenched his fists, "After all the bullshit she said about giving us power, I don't want to let her walk off without giving her a piece of my mind, kinda like you did."

Maka had to smile at that compliment, "I did it just so Nonon would stop calling you names." She then turned to him with a serious face, "But that's because I didn't want to fight them… and if you think about it, Satsuki's certainly holding many aces up her sleeves. We could be at a disadvantage if Satsuki is this cunning already."

Naruto groaned, "I get you, in all honesty, I do. It's just…" he let out an exasperated breath, "People looking down on others from their high clouds, thinking they got all the answers, that they are always right, and that their way is the only one that should be followed truly piss me off. I can respect someone who does things so people are better and nicer, but Sasquatch just ticks me off."

Maka raised a brow, before chuckling when she got the clue and pictured a far hairier Satsuki, "I know, and while I agree she needs to lose the attitude and those heavy eyebrows, you shouldn't let her get to you." She smiled softly at her partner, "If I learned anything is that you lose if you're angered by your enemy…" she thought back to her Maka Chop, "Ok, I'm not the best one to say that considering I'm also prone to anger but if you let Satsuki crawl up your skin so easily, she could play with you way too easy."

He spat on the ground, showing a bit of his displeasure and lack of care about that, "If she wants to anger me, I'm the last person she should piss off. I can get angry, but even then I'm not an idiot who'd do anything stupid." He raised his right bandaged hand for her to see, "Gramps taught me to keep my control and when to use my anger in battle. If she angers me, she better be prepared."

Maka sighed and patted his shoulder, "You're really bitter about her showing off, aren't you?" She could see it a mile away, his ego was hurt.

Naruto was at first weirded out by the contact, but her gloved palm felt warm and… not bad, to say the least. He gave her a mirthless chuckle in reply, "Yeah, I guess that too." he said with a bit of truth.

Maka smiled, her partner seemed to be more at ease, '_He really is sweet if one tries to be good with him. That's good to know._' They kept on walking and then a question came to mind, one that was shared in their minds, "Do you think Shinji and Ryuuko are fine?" she was truly worried about them, they were actually friendly if bizarre, "I know Ryuuko can handle herself, and Shinji's well armed but they're just alone, and who knows what kind of partner they'd get."

Naruto remembered the racist he had been about to punch on the ship to Beacon, "Hey, if they're partnered with a bitch or an asshole, I can beat some manners into them."

Maka felt how thick drops of sweat formed on the back of her head at that, "Is every answer to everything for you to just punch the problem?"

Naruto raised his right fist, clenching it so hard his knuckles cracked a bit, "It's what I do best. It's also… all I can do when people aren't good to me or others."

Maka looked down, "You mean… if they look at you for being a Faunus…" it wasn't a question, it was a statement she wished to avoid but Naruto made it hard for her to not question it.

He sighed, "Yeah, I guess…"

Maka remembered her partner, a pair of fluffy purple cat ears came to mind, followed by angry yells. Her hand tightened its grip on her foldable scythe, "I know how you feel, believe me, I do." She said and gave him a small, comforting smile, "If I could, I'd also beat a lot of manners into people who hate others for being different… As I told you, my friend Blair is nice and even if at times she can be too much to handle, she's a good person deep down…" she then turned to the martial artist and flashed him a grin, "She tries so hard to put on a smile, I feel like I must protect that no matter what."

Naruto was at a loss… for a good five seconds, "That's just cliché." He said, making Maka feel like she'd fall flat on her face at the bluntness. But before she could call him on that, he continued as he walked forward, a small smile on his face, "But… it sounds nice…" he raised his right fist, looking at it intently, "To fight in order to protect smiles… That's got a nice ring to it."

Maka chuckled, "You're sounding too romantic."

That caused Naruto's cheeks to hide his birthmarks with his red blush, "H-Hey! You started it! I'm just trying to be nice!"

Maka grinned more, "Sorry, it's too fun to tease you." He grumbled and kept walking forward, but the happy pigtailed girl noticed he didn't try to get away from her as she followed him.

XXXXXX

"So, what do you think Whisker's kill count is? Wait, don't tell me, we're winning!" A laughing Ryuuko said as she cut down two more werewolves-like Grimm by crisscrossing her blades, slicing both diagonally.

Shinji grunted as he pulled out a bullet from his bandolier, opened a special bolt on top of the small assault rifle, and slammed the bullet inside the magazine. After a quick aim to the nearest three wolf humanoids, he pulled the trigger. What happened next surprised even Ryuuko. A powerful explosion of electricity left Shinji's rifle, flying with sparks shooting from the barrel and then an arrow flew out, made of pure lightning Dust. The banchou girl was amazed as the projectile not only hit the targets, but the moment it came in contact with any nearby Grimm, said monsters would get a powerful shock that would have them with uncontrollable spasms before falling down to the ground, either dead or too internally burned by the electricity to move. And when the bullet hit the Grimm it was aimed at right between the eyes, the poor bastard didn't stand a chance as his brain got fried and blood poured out of the hole in its forehead. The creature had been instantly killed.

"I guess that's all of them." Shinji said as he pulled the bolt's handle, releasing the empty cartridge. He checked his surroundings and then his gun, unaware of Ryuuko walking towards him until she slapped his back, a bit too hard for someone as non-athletic as him, but it could've been worse, "W-What?!" he asked in a mixture of pain and surprise.

The girl chuckled, "Hey, no need to be so nervous. You did good back there, partner. Glad to see I got you covering my back."

The way she said that, so truthfully, so honest, and with a smile so sincere made Shinji feel way too embarrassed to think coherently, "Well, I guess… I mean, I am your partner so I have to fight with you… I know I'm not as strong as you but I can try and… um… I don't know, I guess this is what I'm supposed to do, right?"

Ryuuko blinked, "Whoa, slow down for a second. You ok? If I said anything bad, then I'm sorry."

Shinji shook his head, "No, no… What you said was nice which is… I guess sort of the problem…" he looked down depressively at the ground, "It's just that back with my mentor, I had to deal with other students of hers and… how do I put this…?" he sighed tiredly, in the end he had to say it, "They… They were nice, deep down but they were also… just scary…"

The girl raised a brow, "Can't be much worse than Whiskers and I getting you tense when we're about to butt heads. So, what's the big issue?"

The boy poked his index fingers together in a way that someone in the universe felt briefly connected to, "I… I don't like to… talk badly about others… But those two, my partners, they were really good at their job, and they even enjoyed it… perhaps too much. One of them just loved to get in the line of fire and mow down everyone in sight, while the other would take them out with a sniper rifle with the coldest of precision and attitude I've seen… They scared me, but not because they were mean or anything, but because how much they enjoyed beating up people."

Ryuuko let out a soft giggle, "Hey, sounds like you're talking of Whiskers and I now."

Timid as ever, Shinji looked up, and for a moment Ryuuko's red streak seemed to spread its color to the rest of her feathery locks, and an image of a blue haired Naruto standing beside her came to his mind, and that made him shiver from head to toes, "I… I may need therapy now…"

Ryuuko groaned and hooked her arm around the shorter boy, also making a mental note that she towered over him by nearly three inches, "Listen, Shinji, whatever those partners of you may be, if I know anything about you, is that they must have wanted to protect you just like you did here backing me up." She pulled him closer and gave him a grin, "And if I can guess, they must have enjoyed having someone like you also backing them up. If they said they didn't, they surely wanted to look tough or didn't appreciate you enough."

The boy had to let out a small smile there, "You're really nice, Ryuuko, even if you don't look like it."

Now the girl took offense, "Hey! I told you, I'm not a banchou because I'm some badass wannabe, don't like to think, or wanna harm others, I just am because it's fun!"

Shinji laughed a bit, "Well, I always thought it was because… you're not very…" and here he should have shut up.

"Not very what?" Ryuuko asked, her brows knitted tightly as she stared at Shinji right in the eyes, almost as if she could see his soul deep inside those brown orbs of his.

Shinji felt himself sweating in both fear and oppression. He wanted to say she wasn't very feminine, but quickly came up with a good word, "Me." His answer could only make Ryuuko blink one, twice, and then three times in confusion in the span of two seconds, so he elaborated, "I mean… You're not afraid of saying what you think and are very unlike… well, me." He sighed a bit, while trying to keep a smile to not be so depressive before this girl, "You don't hold back on anything and take the risks… I'd rather hide and avoid any kind of danger like a co-"

Ryuuko put her hand on his head, a bit hard, not like a slap but still enough to shake his head so he stopped talking, "Hey, hey, hey!" she said with her loud voice, her drawl still there to give him time to register what happened, "You don't have the right to call yourself a coward, not after being here on your own and trying to do something that scares the shit out of you. If you can face your fears, then you're pretty fucking badass already. Also, what's wrong with trying to use your brain…? I know I may not use mine much when fighting but sometimes I wish I did to avoid getting hit." She did put aside the fact she barely got hit in fights because she was mostly busy pummeling anyone who was idiotic enough to anger her into hamburgers. But hey, she needed to say something inspiring and shit like that.

Shinji looked down, some red coming to his cheeks as he let out a genuine smile, "I… I guess so…"

Ryuuko slapped him again on the back, this time a bit harder which caused the boy to cringe a bit, "Don't guess or think too much, ok? At times it's only reckless things that get you moving forward, like being here with me to get into this academy, you're already being reckless as long as you're with me." Her smile was wide and bright enough to guide a bat through the middle of space.

Shinji felt thick beads of sweat weighting down the back of his head as he stared at the slightly taller girl, "Should you be really so proud of saying that last part?"

Shinji then saw it, her grin fell a bit, but she still remained cheerful if a bit more serious, "You either live to do what your guts tell you, or you get no answers to any question you may have about your life."

He stood there, silent, before realizing something, "Isn't that…" he moved his neck to get a better look, and Ryuuko also turned to where his eyes were set, both of them grinning, "Maka! Naruto!"

Said duo stop when hearing their names and looked to their sides as, on the other side of a large bush, one Shinji Ikari was running after them with a truthful smile that quite frankly looked way better on him than any of his shy or forced smiles, "Oh, you made it here, Whiskers." It was also nice to see Ryuuko, even as she cockily walked with both hands on her jacket's pockets and a smug smirk, "So, how many Grimm did you get to take out?"

Naruto looked down on the shorter girl, "I took out a pack of Ursa. You?" his stare shot out lightning that clashed with the banchou girl's.

"An entire pack of Beowulf Grimm, and Shinji took out a good chunk of them as well." She said with a smirk.

Maka slapped her forehead, "Please, just stop it, you're like kids trying to…" here she lost any kind of analogy she could make. Truly, it was like boys trying to measure the size of their manhood like it proved something, but the fact Ryuuko was a girl made that analogy way too awkward even if she didn't act girly at all.

Luckily, the most sensible member of the team, as well as perhaps the less mentally stable one, had a few words to help her, "It's like you're trying to impress each other."

Each fighter looked at their shorter partners before hooking a thumb towards the other, "Me? Impress him/her?" they asked in unison before locking competitive stares again.

Maka mentally thanked Shinji as she took the stage again, "Listen, if you really want to compete, then why don't you do so at a good fancy dinner by trying to see who is the best date?" she asked with a teasing smile that made the two blue eyed hot-blooded students to be look away from each other.

Naruto snorted, "Ha! Sounds lame, and unneeded, I have better standards for girls: I like them confident and good at what they do, and having them be attractive in a unique way." Here a good chunk of the girls the four friends had met sneezed, including one Kiryuiin heiress. Even Maka felt her nose tingling a bit for some reason.

That fired up Ryuuko's grin, "Well, you're no Prince Charming, Whiskers. As for standards, I'd like a guy who can accept his cuteness when teased." Here Yang sneezed once again, wondering for a moment if someone was thinking on how she teased them which on second thought dreaded to picture considering her looks and most guys' mindsets.

Naruto and Ryuuko had now pressed their foreheads together, their competitive sides setting a fiery aura around them, "Maka, what do we do? Embarrassing them only makes the two of them want to fight even more." Shinji asked as he started to step back, trying to find a safe spot to hide behind the moment the two jumped for the epic duel that was building up.

Maka just turned at him and shrugged uselessly, "I got nothing else, the only thing I can think about is hitting them but that right now would make them even more eager to fight. We need something bigger than this fight."

Almost as if on cue, the ground shook itself on the forest and the four friends could feel how the floor rumbled beneath their feet. "That can't be good." Shinji said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, not very far off from our heroes, Satsuki and her own underlings were having trouble as they faced an S-class Grimm, one that slept in the forest and that teachers of the academy kept sealed. It was only with inside help, a map, and their own wits that they managed to find which place the monster was kept locked at. It was made clear for students of any school since a very young age that if they faced an S-class Grimm they should run, run as far and fast as they could no matter what happened, for they would die if facing such an adversary.

As such, the Kiryuiin heiress took it as a challenge and thus walked right towards the monster's lair, stopping down to stare at a large deep abyss that was standing before her. At the bottom was a thick metal door which was constantly reinforced day after day. It was covering a massive hole on the ground, which seemed to be made as if something enormous had fallen from the skies and sunken so deep that no matter if the sun shone directly over it, nothing but darkness would be seen. Inumuta was having fun cracking the code to the gates in order to open them.

"That's where they keep one of the legendary S-class Grimm, denominated Fallen Angels, Angels for short, due to their near divine powers." Inumuta stated as he pushed up his glasses, "Fitting place but very mediocre security for someone like me. Sadly, it seems most locks require actual keys, not codes, so we may need to break them the old fashioned way."

Sanageyama leaned forward, using his heightened senses to see if he could find anything in there, "It's certainly like a gateway to Hell itself. I sense no life in there, no warmth, just cold and void. You sure you want me to bust those locks?"

Nonon chuckled, "What's the problem, wild monkey? That's what's on your head all the time. If Satsuki wants us to face whatever's inside, I'd be glad to do it on my own and take more credit."

Sanageyama gave a snort, "She summoned us all for a reason, and she's even here at our side. You must be really nervous about this, Lady Satsuki."

Said heiress allowed herself a smile, "To not recognize my fears is foolish, Sanageyama. But it is even more pathetic not to face them and become stronger through such a challenge."

Inumuta smirked, his collar popping open as he spoke, "Then let's start this, shall we?" he asked as he produced a strange metallic orb from one of his pockets, "This should either wake it up or at the very least kill it. I know you don't want the enemy to be handicapped, Lady Satsuki, but we are still facing an Angel on our own while having given our word to not use Shiro's gifts. I'd like to ask for forgiveness, but I believe this will make things a bit fairer for us."

Satsuki closed her eyes, "I understand, Inumuta. We may have an advantage at the beginning, though the enemy is powerful so that advantage may disappear when our enemy appears."

Inumuta nodded, pulled a pin from the orb which caused it to glow red. He gently let it fall down, and the instant it hit the thick metal gates, the flames illuminated the skies for a brief moment… only to leave not even a mark on the doors. The four huntsmen managed to stay on their feet despite the shockwave, while something else wasn't as happy.

"Is that all?" Nonon asked without any humor to her voice, "All that blabbering and all you had were some cheap fireworks."

Inumuta bit his lip, his collar closed, "It seems Ozpin is a really careful ma-" And then, his words were cut short when something not only hit the gates, but it ripped right through them.

It jumped from the darkness, flying up into the sky and shocking the four huntsmen with its sheer size. It landed behind them, its back turned to the group as it hunched over after its landing, its feet sinking into the ground. And the instant it appeared, not only were the four daring huntsmen shocked by its appearance, but also Ozpin. From his office the principal watched it all while his teachers who had been ready to depart sat by his side, watching through different screens and hidden cameras in the forest how the possible future students were doing. But all of them turned pale at the sight of the monster as it stood before the Kiryuiin heiress and her lackeys.

It was a being that stood far taller than the trees on the forest, easily dwarfing them by being twice their size by standing as tall as a five stories high building. Its body was pitch black, had long but extremely thin limbs with his arms ended in three-clawed hands, and no neck or skull to speak. It possessed broad shoulders made of a bone structure acting like pauldron, its ribs popped out from its flesh surrounding a strange red orb, and its face was in between its broad shoulder guards, if it could be called a face. What the Angel had to "see" others was a long white mask with only two holes for the missing eyes, letting one see only endless darkness in the empty sockets, and it looked more like a bird mask from some opera.

"How did it get out?!" Misato asked in shock as she pressed her forehead to the nearest screen broadcasting the Angel turning around to face the four students, "Damn it, did they wake it up?! How?! We made sure the route everyone would take would be far away from that thing!"

Zabuza grunted, a hand on his chin, "You said you were weary of the Kiryuiin girl, Ozpin. You think she plans on using this thing somewhat?"

Mikisugi scratched his head, ruffling his shaggy hair a bit, "No, Satsuki doesn't seem stupid, she just loves a challenge when she sees one. My thoughts are that she wanted this fight."

Glynda bit her lip, "We should be calling for back-up to take that thing down once again."

"Actually…" Ozpin said, turning on his scroll to show them the image of four teens going to the gates, "I was hoping they would show you why I let them in and why I trust in the legacy of our old friends."

Back to the Kiryuiin heiress and her gang, she was readying herself for a hard battle, "So this is the Angel that Ozpin and his troops sealed in here years ago, Sachiel." Satsuki said as she unsheathed her katana and wakizashi, holding them in a samurai's stance for both defense and offense.

"This isn't going to be an easy fight." Sanageyama stated as he pulled out his shinai.

Inumuta chuckled mirthlessly as he spread his legs for a Tae Kwon Do stance, "I'm just interested in the data, so don't die easily."

Nonon pulled up her massive hat, aiming the skull at the monster's face, "Is that all the care I'm going to hear from you, puppy? But don't worry, I won't let Satsuki be alone."

Both parties moved forward, Satsuki's blades sailed through the wind as she rushed forward with precision and determination, Houka's legs sparked and soon his shoes were covered by a pair of blue light to create ethereal lightning boots, Uzu's shinai ripped through the air as it was swung so hard and fast that it created powerful gales of wind, and Nonon's top hat opened its top like a lid to let out two customized, four-barreled guns that looked like handheld grenade launchers, the kind that only have room for one grenade. Both large guns were painted pink and with all four barrels making the shape of a heart and showing that instead of a hole for the projectiles they carried speakers.

Sachiel just raised its right foot and stomped towards the teens, the force causing a cloud of dirt to shoot up to a normal man's chest and shaking the ground, making the team lose their balance for a brief second before they reached the Angel. Nonon raised her guns and fired, instead of rockets or a projectile of any kind what came out were loud sound waves, and it was so loud that for some reason following anime logic what came out were pink beams shaped like hearts while Beethoven's music played out. Houka actually had analyzed the weapon and knew what everything was and had a scientific way of proving it could happen in real life, but right now he was busy jumping at Sachiel and sending a flying kick at the ankle which foot had stomped the ground.

The duo watched with smirks as heart-shaped impacts sunk into the monster's flesh while its right leg trembled a bit from the impact… and then the flesh popped back out without any problem before the right foot had been raised to swat aside Houka. The pinkette growled as she stepped back to try to find a better weak point while Inumuta flipped backwards and landed harmoniously on the ground with his lightning boots burning some of the grass around him.

"It's way sturdier than I imagined." Houka growled beneath his collar as he typed a few commands on his scroll, his lightning boots shining brighter.

Nonon fired again, trying the ribs with the same result as before, "Then keep hitting it until it stops moving!" she shouted as she kept firing to at least try to do some inner damage with her sound.

"Leave this to the pros!" Sanageyama cackled as he ran up at the monster from the side.

Sachiel turned to the green haired lad and lowered one claw at the kendo enthusiast, opening it to show a small light in the joint that connected his three bladed fingers. Uzu gave a grin as a red beam of pure energy shot from the claw at him, and raced at it. The others didn't hold their breath for they knew the wild monkey better than anyone. Just as the beam was about to hit the lad right in the face, Sanageyama cockily tilted his head to the side to let the raw energy sail besides his skull without even burning his hair. With his shinai now held high, the swordsman jumped all the way up to the lowered claw.

Once landing on the wrist, Sanageyama's smirk widened as he raced up all the way through the Angel's arm right at its face, using its large bone shoulder as a step to jump right at the bone mask, "MEN!" he crowed as he slammed his bamboo sword on the creature's face, making the S-class Grimm tilt its head back a bit. "DOU!" this time, as he fell down, he swung his shinai in a circular motion to slam it with all his might, weight and speed on its side right near the red orb, making Sachiel angry. The creature tried to squash the pest, but as its claw neared to rip him to shreds, Sanageyama spun around and delivered another strike, "KOTE!" he slammed his shinai hard on the monster's wrist, effectively deflecting its attack and managing to land safely on the ground to dash backwards away from the now angrier creature.

Uzu looked up to see the damage he had caused Sachiel, whatever smile he could have had vanished when he noted that it still stood towering over him and the others, "What was that about leaving this to a professional?" Inumuta's jab didn't hurt, though, but it still was right.

Sanageyama chuckled, "I attacked its head, inner organs and what have to be eight bones on its wrist, so we're leaving out one weakness."

Inumuta pushed up his glasses, his collar popping open to show a smirk, "You've read my mind, but I don't think it'll make it easy for us to get to it." He said as they all looked at the red orb on Sachiel's chest. "According to the data, that orb is perhaps as sturdy as its body so we need something stronger to break it."

Nonon smirked, "Did you think Lady Satsuki was just twiddling her thumbs this whole time?" she asked as she motioned for the boys with her guns where her childhood friend was at.

Sachiel noticed the long black hair a bit too late as Satsuki passed by the opening her loyal followers had made and that she silently thanked. She jumped forward, even using Sachiel's skinny left knee as a step to further impulse her towards its red orb. The Angel Grimm instantly raised its two claws to try to crush the girl and also turn whatever remained of her body into ham. The Kiryuiin heiress gave herself the chance to give a small smirk before reversing the grip on her wakizashi. Her body spun around and soon turned into a black and white whirlwind of death that clashed against the monster's claws. She passed through, seeing her target right before her and with her enemy no longer capable of hitting her she twirled her short sword on her fingers.

"This is almost too easy." She said as she held the wakizashi by the tip of the black blade on her index and middle fingers and thumb before throwing it right at the orb. Not only did the blade land right in the center of the monster's chest, but it managed to pierced through! Sachiel let out a deafening cry as it stepped back, its spine curling back, raising its arms up into the sky at the agony of its precious orb being pierced… and then it moved back up, its bony mask now staring at a shocked Satsuki! Her eyes widened for a second as she could actually feel the creature's hateful gaze on her as it brought up one claw and slammed it down on her.

Acting quickly, Satsuki held her katana with both hands over her head and parried the blow, easily avoiding getting cut in two, but not without Sachiel sending her down on the ground with such force that her high heeled shoes created a created where she landed. She grunted at the pain, her legs sending her vibrations all over her body that shook her up and numbed her limbs.

Seeing Satsuki now exposed, Sachiel raised its foot to stomp her again, while her followers cried her name. Satsuki gritted her teeth but raised her sword in order to at least fight back no matter what could happen… but the blow that would have been the death of many never came.

"Tch… I must be a real idiot helping you… after all the bullshit you talked about power… But I'm not heartless enough to let monsters like this hurt others!" the spiky golden hair and matching fox ears gave away who her savior was as he kept both arms up and not only held Sachiel's foot away from her, but managed to do so while standing tall even while his feet sank to the ground in small craters.

A roar was heard along two, no, three blades cutting the air. Instantly, Sachiel stepped back away from the blonde as three cuts showed up on its ankle, two were making a cross on one side while the other had dug deeply into the other, causing blood to spill on the floor. Ryuuko grinned as she landed on the floor with her scissor blades separated while Maka hefted her scythe up on both shoulders while sending a serious glare at the large Grimm.

"You couldn't get cornier, could you, Whiskers?" Ryuuko asked as she put her scissor blades back together, this time holding them like a broadsword, "But then again, I'm also not a bad girl."

Maka tried to keep her friends to focus, "S-class Grimm, Sachiel, once sealed here by Ozpin and his colleagues along Lord Death. Kept alive only to be studied." She singlehandedly twirled her scythe, keeping a hand on the staff while nailing the tip of the blade on the ground, "I guess I won't read the book then."

Sachiel roared as it walked back towards the newcomers, ready to shoot at them, but just as it was about to open its claws, two blue projectiles came from behind the girls and nailed its hands. The instant Sachiel's claws had been hit, large blocks of ice had materialized, keeping them tightly closed and making it impossible for the Angel to fire at the girls.

Shinji breathed deeply as he tried to analyze the situation, and he summarized it when he pulled out the cartridges, "This is gonna hurt, isn't it?"

Satsuki dusted herself as she stood up, speaking to the newcomers, "It seems I owe you my thanks, but for now I guess we need to take down a common foe, despite our… differences."

Ryuuko growled at the glare aimed at her from the other swordswoman, "You need only to say thanks, you-"

Shinji spoke up, "Guys, it's gotten angrier!" he said and true to his word, Sachiel's hate could be touched like a solid object.

"Do you have any plans?" Nonon asked the other hunstmen.

Naruto cracked his knuckles, "Same as always, punch until the bastard stops moving."

Sanageyama readied his shinai again, "I like the sound of that, but aim at the red orb, it's the monster's only weak point."

Maka spoke up, "You guys have a lot to explain, but for now we have bigger problems to deal with."

Beneath his collar, Inumuta smirked, "This will be good data."

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Next chapter, Team MSNR and their unlikely allies against a S-class Grimm. Sorry for leaving a cliffhanger but it was either this or taking even longer on delivering this chapter. Next chapter, Team MSNR (MiSsioNeR) and Team SHUN (pronounced how it's read) will have to forcefully set their differences aside for the time needed to kill a Fallen Angel. Needless to say, the truce won't last much after that is said and done.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	7. Chapter 7

I OWN NOTHING

I find Maka to be perhaps the cutest girl I've seen in anime, she's like a sane, independent and Lolita version of Harley Quinn. When she goes crazy, I do see the resemblance, just give her a mallet.

Friendly tip: Listen to Rules of Nature from the soundtrack of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance during this chapter's battle scene.

**XXXXXX**

Best reckless plan

"RRRRAAAAAARRRRRGH!"

The roar that echoed all around the forest, which was silenced by a girly scream from a boy who found his relic to be a monster's shining and poisonous tail, was not from Sachiel. The Fallen Angel Grimm, the legendary S-class was facing the source of the roar, or rather the sources. Rather than wait any longer, Ryuuko Matoi, Uzu Sanageyama and Naruto Uzumaki all let out battle cries minus one Satsuki Kiryuiin. The heiress did have her eyes set in a hateful scowl at the Angel. All four just rushed at the monster with their swords, shinai and fists raised.

One Shinji Ikari's started to breathe deeply as he aimed at the creature, putting in a lightning Dust bullet in the cartridge of his assault rifle. The skinny marksman knew that to kill the monster they had to destroy its red orb in its chest, but he had his doubts that the Dust bullets could break such a thing when many other attacks had failed… Maka tried to read the monster, her eyes seeing what her friends and their current forced allies couldn't. Inumuta for his part just took his time to type what he was seeing, a smile of excitement tickling the corners of Houka's mouth. Nonon for her part stood by Maka's side, set on not letting Albarn shadow her, for Jakuzure was possessive of her best friend.

Sachiel just raised its right foot, and slammed it on the ground… and that was all it took to cause every single teen to stumble and fall over. Instead of the jump or the walking, Sachiel had deliberately stomped hard on the ground with enough force to make spikes shoot around the crater hits foot had sunk in, some of them aiming to pierce the incoming teens. Each gave a growl as they forced themselves up, watching as the rocky spikes were about to take their lives. Ryuuko swung her scissor blades together as one, the broadsword that was the closed set of scissors easily cut through the rocks in a single clean motion. Uzu's shinai turned the one nearing him into rubbly. Naruto for his part just swung his right leg up, making several pebbles fly back at Sachiel… only for them to bounce off its skin. Satsuki for her part just boringly tilted her head to the side, letting the spike pass by her skull without even touching one of her long silky black hairs.

"He's just playing with us." Houka said, but his tone of voice was as cynical and methodical as only he could be. "It may be mad, but for it to still see us like a bunch of flies after it got its leg hurt and we attacked its very core means that if we don't get to that orb in its chest right now we're every single shade of fucked."

"Screw your colors!" Ryuuko shouted, aimed a finger at the monster, "With a target that big we can't miss!" she roared as she hefted her broadsword-like closed scissors over her right shoulder.

Naruto slammed his knuckles together, "That's a big A, sister!"

Houka gaped behind his collar as he watched the duo race through the rocky spikes, their determination moving them forward towards Sachiel as the Fallen Angel stared down at them, "You're insane." Was all Houka could say as he watched the two race at the monster which claws were still frozen, but before he could add anything, Shinji stood forward by his side.

The young marksman carried a bullet in between each of his let hand's fingers, meaning three bullets held by the hand moving the canon, and he had already loaded one special Dust bullet in the magazine of his assault rifle. As soon as Sachiel raised its two still frozen claws, focusing on crushing the two before it and breaking the ice, Shinji fired. Houka could barely see how it happened or if it even happened, but as soon as Shinji had fired, the marksman had pulled out the empty cartridge and as soon as the magazine was open, with smoke still coming out, he rammed one of the bullets on his hand inside and didn't waste any other second to shoot. He repeated the same motions once again as the projectile flew out of the rifle, Shinji slammed inside another special bullet in the same instant. And when the second empty cartridge flew out of the smoking magazine, the boy put in the last bullet he had in his ring and pinky fingers, ramming it inside the rifle, and once it was locked and loaded it soon joined the others in the air.

For everyone who could see what Shinji had done, it was a blur, but from that blur a combo of four shots flew out. Four consecutive customized Dust bullets went out but everything seemed to come out of the same shot. Inumuta quickly tapped into his computer Shinji's insane reloading speed: three bullets per second.

Naruto and Ryuuko for their part jumped side to side to avoid Sachiel's claws from smashing them to the floor, which was made easier when three lightning Dust bullets slammed Sachiel in the chest, and a fourth ice bullet once again created a block of ice. The strikes had landed on the crack Satsuki's knife made… and did nothing else. The legendary Grimm turned at Shinji, its empty eyes looking at him with killing intent spiking to the skies. Its claws finally reached the ground, breaking the ice covering them before reaching for the ice on its chest and smashing it off effortlessly.

The skinny boy backpedaled, "What?! That's not fair! Satsuki broke through it with so much ease!" he said with wide eyes as Sachiel seemed to focus on him now.

Nonon's reply came with her ever present cynicism, "That's because Satsuki's swords aren't made of simple steel."

Maka noted that down in her mind, "Shinji, do you think you can aim for the sword on its chest?"

Satsuki allowed herself a small smile, "I like your plan, Albarn." She then turned to her underlings, "Everyone! Make a clear path for Ikari!"

The shy boy was panicking, "W-Wait, it's not an easy shot! That thing is very powerful and-"

The pigtailed girl cut him off with a smile, "And we are counting on you because we know you can do it."

"I… I can try…" Shinji breathed out.

Maka gave him a kind smile, "I know you will."

She turned as Naruto jumped and punched Sachiel on its right knee, forcing the Angel to step back, "Fall down, you oversized bug thing!" the blond shouted, but the knee didn't budge, much less do more than let his fist sink and bounce off. The others watched as the cuts that Maka and Ryuuko made were quickly closing up, the Angel was healing quickly. Sachiel turned to its attackers, and with a growl it tried to swat the blond aside only to clash its claws against Ryuuko's scissors and then Sanageyama's shinai which managed to deflect the strike if at the cost of them getting sent down while Naruto also succumbed to gravity. Sachiel raised its claw and brought it down on the landing kids.

The ashy blonde twirled her scythe in one hand, "We're going to give it our all." With that she turned at the barely two inches taller boy with a smile, "Just try your best too, ok?" she held her scythe in both hands and raced forward with Inumuta and then Nonon followed her closely. Before the first wave could attack Sachiel, the pinkette opened fire, the pink sound waves slammed the claw to move it out of the way. Inumuta jumped acrobatically, flipping in the air to slam his right lightning boot on the monster's other hand. Maka for her part saw that Naruto's fist had still left an imprint on the Angel's skin and moved right at it before it healed. With a clean cut, Sachiel stumbled on its weakened knee as it now sported a deep gash.

Shinji could only watch the huntsmen before him, all showing why they were in this initiation to become protectors of the world. The scrawny marksman breathed in as he aimed his rifle at the monster, "I… I can do it…" he said his mantra as he tried to get a clear line between the sword in the monster's chest and his rifle.

The others had to jump out of the way as Sachiel swung its uninjured leg at them to kick them out. The instant its foot missed the teens, one Kiryuiin heiress jumped on it and started to run up. She had her sights on the orb yet again, or rather to clear a path for Shinji to line up the sights. She jumped from the knee at the chest, and soon her underlings followed her.

Ryuuko shook her fist at the taller young woman, "Damn it, Kiryuiin, you're not taking Shinji's glory!"

Satsuki smirked, "I'm not." She sheathed her katana and took her mastered stance midair, her Iaidou showing when the S-class monster moved. Before Sachiel could even start its attack Sanageyama swung his shinai with all his might at its right wrist, Houka slammed one of his lightning boots on the other, and Nonon shot at the monster's knees to keep it from moving. In one instant, not even the blink of an eye, Satsuki's sheathed blade was out, extended to her side while her eyes were closed. Harmoniously, everyone landed on the ground and turned to Shinji as Satsuki sheathed her katana and now her wakizashi.

Naruto knitted his brows in both irritation and confusion, "All of that just to get your toy back?!"

Satsuki turned stoically at him, "And something more." She sheathed her blades, and soon it happened.

Sachiel roared after the crack on its orb had grown, Nonon grinned at the dumbfounded looks of the blondes and the banchou, "You got a clear path and bigger target, wallflower, don't waste it!"

Shinji snapped out of his awe and took aim, "R-Right!" he said and did a last minute adjustment to his rifle, changing the potency of the fire Dust. His assault rifle had three kinds of projectiles without counting the special added second canon for the customized Dust bullets: stunning which was the lowest and non-lethal despite leaving scorch marks on the skin, lethal which he had been using all day long, and the one he set on as he pulled the trigger. The last potency had been kindly dubbed "Canon" by his mentor, and it showed when the shot not only appeared but forced the skinny boy to backpedal from the kick, his rifle almost flying from his hands.

Friends, unexpected allies, and even an Angel were amazed when a fireball the size of a baseball came out with the same speed and force of an anti-tank bullet. Sachiel's body staggered back from the shot, the opened crack in its orb hit dead center without even a millimeter off. As the projectile hit, the teens were amazed when a massive fireball, more like a small nuke, had gone off in Sachiel's face, covering the S-class Grimm's in flames.

Success surging through the young marksman, he chuckled, "I… I did it!" Shinji said as he grabbed his rifle with one hand and raised it in the air, pumping it up and down in cheer, "I did it!"

Naruto rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, "I saw it… I'm still working on believing it."

Nonon gaped, "W-What kind of firepower do you have, wallflower?!" she asked the now flustered Shinji, who was unused to praise from others but his mother and mentor.

Inumuta ruined the moment as he coughed into his fist for attention, "Well, in every man's terms… we royally pissed him off…"

Swinging its arms around in fury, Sachiel managed to dispel the flames to show that its red orb had slowly but surely started to close its cracks, the projectile had managed to slow that down and even left marks on the remaining cracks Satsuki made, but the Angel was truly furious. Right now, everyone had the same thoughts as Shinji when this started and in that instant Sachiel stopped walking and ran at them, dashing at the speed of a bullet train with its feet ripping trees from the ground with its every stomp. The thought was: not fair.

"Son of a…" Sanageyama got out as Sachiel actually punched. Before its arms moved at speeds they could manage to catch up, now it was like the monster's arms had turned into a bullet, its three-clawed hand ramming the earth with such force it sunk in effortlessly like a knife through hot butter. It even left a hole barely the size of its arm's width, showing the insane speed. The arm had kicked up a large cloud of dirt into the air, making it hard to see. Luckily, all and every single of our heroes had trained to avoid bullets.

Maka grunted, her eyes working on the monster, "The bullet hit him and hurt him but… it seems that orb wasn't its weak point, but a layer."

"What?!" Shinji asked in shock, "You mean it's got no openings?!"

Maka nodded stoically, "I saw it just now, your shot almost reached its true core, that's why it's mad now. But that orb is basically a shield. I mean, had that been its weak point, then everyone could've taken Sachiel out with the right weapon." She raised her scythe, ready to fight… only to be stopped when Naruto picked her up by her collar, "W-What?"

"Since we know that now…" Naruto said as he carried the little girl in his arms, bridal style, and turned to the others, "We best stop talking and keep dodging." He said as he jumped along Maka over another claw strike that barely missed the group. The group all landed, though Satsuki and her underlings had to question how close the other group was. Naruto was holding Maka close like his life depended on her and Ryuuko herself had instantly grabbed Shinji knowing he wasn't as fast as them; she had the shorter sniper hefted on her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The two smaller huntsmen blushed at their partners' care (There are still no definite pairings, but this is me teasing you all, and getting even at the ones who complained about the possible pairings without even seeing the product).

"Hey, Maka! How do we kill it?" Ryuuko said as she put Shinji down, the boy shaking his head and focusing on his rifle.

Maka shook her head and blush off as she spoke when Naruto set her down, "Its core is very well protected. We need to break into it."

Ryuuko grunted as she looked at her red glove, a ring like a grenade's pin tempting her to act… but someone else did, two idiots with blood just as hot as hers rushed forward as Sachiel punched. "Then let's stop wasting time!" Uzu shouted as he ran with his shinai at his side. "And let's send this freak straight to Hell!" Naruto roared as he raced besides Uzu.

Sachiel's claw once again hit the ground, lifting a large cloud of dirt and leaving a perfect hole on the floor. And from the cloud of dirt, two figures had jumped out, trails of the cloud flying behind them while the duo found a step to land on. Uzu was on Sachiel's still healing knee and raised his shinai while Naruto landed on the still buried arm. In that instant, everyone could see their very Auras, their fighting spirits exploding all around them. Sanageyama's very Aura was green, swirling around him like gales of wind with a serene tranquility, as if protecting him from everything around the masked swordsman. Naruto's Aura was the complete opposite and yet also similar, his was a dark orange, and while it swirled around him, it did so like a furious maelstrom in the sea, protecting him but ready to destroy anything nearby.

They moved as one, Sanageyama holding his shinai for a stab with all his might and weight put into it while Naruto reared back his fist as far as he could. Their target was before them, and without any other second thought, they attacked with dual cries of "TSUKI!" from the wild monkey and a loud roar from the furious fox. And then, Sachiel countered their attacks. In the split second they had to try to strike the monster, the S-class Grimm twirled its body around and with surprising dexterity elbowed Sanageyama's strike, making the swordsman growl as he felt his hands and arms twisting while he struggled to keep his grip on his bamboo sword, the shock of the strike made his bones cry like they were put through a wringer. Naruto's turn came next with a knee strike. The hybrid's fist collided with the Grimm's uninjured knee which had been raised not only for defense, but also to send the blond back. Even as his knuckles sunk into the monster's flesh, Naruto could tell how his muscles shrieked at the force countering and then destroying the might behind his punch.

Both fighters flew back, leaving their allies gasping in shock or looking at Sachiel in horror… until they noted something. Just as Naruto's back slammed into a tree with enough force to bounce him face-first on the ground and Uzu rolled on the ground, lifting dirt into a large pile that slowed down his skidding to a halt, the others saw that Sachiel also didn't go unharmed. The knee and the shoulder of the gigantic Grimm had been bent backwards, the strikes had even managed to not only break through the bone but force the broken bone out of the skin, the white spikes sticking painfully out of the monster's pitch black skin. If Sachiel wasn't mad before, the others knew the Angel would kill them painfully now.

"Naruto!" Shinji cried as he tried to reach for the blond, reaching into his pockets for the vial Haku gave him.

But said fox and Uzu raised their hands to stop him, "Hey, Ikari, don't you dare… lick my wounds!" Sanageyama grunted as he aimed a finger at the Angel, "The bastard's finally down, don't waste your time!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, "Hey, Kiryuiin, your swords can cut its orb, right?! Then stop standing there looking pretty and act!"

Nonon got mad, "How dare you speak like that to-"

"Nonon, they're right!" Satsuki interrupted her friend as she started to move forward, her wakizashi sheathed but her katana now firmly gripped in both hands to use all her might in her next attacks, "They cleared a path for us, and Sachiel is healing quickly. We need to finish this, now."

The pinkette groaned, but nodded in the end, "Fine… I'll let it slide considering he helped you from getting stomped on, but just this once, Satsuki."

Maka bared her teeth at the Angel, speaking loud for her fellow blond friend to hear her, "You gave us a chance, we're not wasting it! Shinji, you and Nonon will have to stand back and distract Sachiel with your fire, and keep him away from Naruto and Uzu. Ryuuko, Satsuki, you two have to charge through and get to the core no matter what. You…" she aimed a finger at Inumuta, "You'll help me get every single attack away from Ryuuko and Satsuki."

Inumuta pushed up his glasses, "I'm only here to protect Lady Satsuki, you needn't tell me that."

Ryuuko growled at his attitude, "So what am I? Chopped liver?"

Inumuta opened his collar, showing a smirk, "Yes, you're good bait like that."

Maka glared at the spectacled boy, "She's there to protect your friend, show some empathy."

Inumuta just lazily closed his collar and readied his boots, "I only work for Lady Satsuki, you two are dead weight compared to her."

Before Ryuuko could grab the data obsessed young man by his collar and pummel him to a pulp, Satsuki spoke, "No, they're more than good enough to also attack." She said, her pride and admiration for strength showing again, before she spoke at the banchou, "After all, your scissors are made of the same material as my Bakuzan and Kiryu." She said, talking of her katana and wakizashi respectively.

Ryuuko gasped, "Wait, why… how do you know that?!" she asked, this girl was way too suspicious considering what the banchou was at the academy to know.

Satsuki stoically turned to the monster, "We're wasting time. Sachiel is healing quickly." True to her words, the foul beast struggled to get up.

Ryuuko wanted to get answers soon, but Maka's hand on her shoulder and her green pleading eyes stopped her, so the girl huffed and separated her blades, hefting the large one on her right shoulder and readying the small one on her left hand for defense. She was surprised, however, when Shinji stood forward before the others and took aim.

"Go!" he said, his voice threatening to break at the bravery he tried to muster, "If you can't kill it now, then others can be hurt!"

The others nodded, Nonon aiming her sonic canons at the Angel Grimm, "Give it your all, wallflower!" she said with a shit eating grin aimed at the timid boy, making him blush a bit at the pet name which did ruin the brave face he had struggled to put on in this deadly situation.

Sachiel spread its only good claw open, purple energy forming at the center of the joint which everyone knew it'd fire at them. Not wanting to let the monster slow them down, the group of friends and unlikely allies all rushed forward, even Nonon and Shinji took some steps forward to keep the fire away from the injured, the latter because one was his friend, and the former because Satsuki was ok with Maka's plan, so she wanted to do at least good there if only for the fuzzy browed girl. The two petit gunslingers fired at Sachiel's face, trying to blind it. Their shots once again did little to no damage, but the instant the monster fired, it thankfully missed. However, the sight of the beam of pure energy it shot forth was terrifying. The ground got burned in a line as the monster tried to reach its targets, the trees had been cut neatly from the heat of the raw energy piercing through them, and it did so despite being heavily injured. Even as the S-class Grimm used its energy to heal itself, it was still insanely powerful.

Luckily for the shooters, Maka and Inumuta arrived first to draw the monster's attention to give their two petit allies time to reload. The data obsessed dog jumped and soon started to deliver wide kicks to Sachiel's uninjured leg to try to further bring down the monster, watching as his feet sunk in and how the electricity surged through the monster's hide. However, he noted how the skin was too damn thick when he saw his attacks had the same effect as the first time. Maka for her part twirled her scythe in both hands as she jumped at the monster's lowered arm and delivered a wild, wide slash. Sachiel turned its furious eyes at Maka as she grinned mockingly at him, pulling her eyelid down with one gloved finger and sticking her tongue out. That was adding salt to the large injury on its arm, the flesh had been cut so deeply that it had spread wide open, showing the muscle, and yet not the bone. Maka's scythe was made of good steel, but Sachiel's body was still too sturdy.

Ryuuko and Satsuki had the clear path they needed. The latter raised her pitch black blade over her head with the intention to split the orb wide open, but the former had other wilder plans. Ryuuko put her scissor swords on her right side and started to spin, becoming a windmill of sharp blades and red death. The two let out a loud battle cry, and put all their might into their strikes.

Sachiel stumbled backwards, a pained, agonizing roar echoed through the entire forest as the Grimm reared back its head from the pain. Its orb now sported two large cuts all over it, cracking the thick layer to its core and exposing it... for a brief moment. The Angel stomped forward and kneed Inumuta out of his way, sending him rolling on his side like a log to Nonon's feet, Maka had to use her scythe as Sachiel's now fully healed arm swung at her and sent her flying back, the force had been enough to send her flying into the sky, and make her scream from the force her little body couldn't handle. The monster roared as it finally had its undivided attention to the two who caused it pain and reared back its claws to crush them.

But while Satsuki was both horrified and awed at the monster's power, Ryuuko was terrified at something else, "Maka!" she shouted, wanting to reach the girl.

Shinji surprised Nonon, for he threw down his rifle and started running while yelling loudly, "Why me?!" the youth gave a leap with all of his strength and managed to wrap his arms around the petite blonde girl. The two, however, were still victims to Sachiel's might and Shinji cried in pain as his back was forcefully crushed against the ground. Maka grunted as she felt some of the pain while Shinji did his best to keep her safe, his back aching to points he was sure it'd have broken. But Sachiel didn't give them a chance, it swung its claws at them to crush the two. Satsuki responded by moving her right foot to one claw and jump out of the way and land safely on the ground. Ryuuko for her part used her swords to stop and then roll over the swipe, landing on the monster's arm and glaring at its bony mask with a scowl on her face.

"Matoi, what do you think you're doing?!" Satsuki shouted at her.

The banchou bared her teeth in a nasty snarl, "Fuck off, Kiryuiin. This son of a bitch hurt Whiskers, then Maka, and now Shinji, I'm not dying without dragging the creep down to Hell."

The pigtailed girl moaned at her name being called, and noticed where she was, "Sh… Shinji?" she asked weakly as the rough landing stopped.

The boy grinned weakly, some blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he did so, but he was happy, "Y-You're all right… That's good…" he moaned in exhaustion, and with his weak smile let himself fall down, "Tell me you have another idea…"

Maka looked at Sachiel, the monster had stood up again, and this time it was really meaning business as it roared at them, "I… I got nothing…"

"Then…" the two turned to see Naruto as he walked by them, his teeth bared, "Stop thinking…" he growled as he gripped his fists so tightly his two petit friends heard his knuckles crack, "Finishing this fight is all the motivation I need to kill this bastard!" he bared his teeth, he was truly furious, "I'm not going to let this guy live after he hurt you two!" he slammed his fists for emphasis, creating gales of wind.

Sanageyama, using his shinai for support, groaned at him, "We need something better than guts."

In that instant, Ryuuko and Naruto spoke in unison as they aimed their fingers at the S-class demon before them, "Screw your plans, I just want to punch this fucker in the face!" And the two stomped forward, Naruto's foot dug deeply into the ground to create a hole three feet wide as he sailed through the air with a jump, showing his insane brute force. Ryuuko for her part just raced up the monster's arm to its face with her swords at her sides, both roaring in anger at the beast.

Ryuuko raced all the way to its shoulder, landed on it, and then leapt at its face, "You're going to fall down if it's the last thing I do!" she roared as she swung her scissor blades in a bloody and brutal harmony. All that could be seen was a whirlwind of red metal as Ryuuko slowly fell down. Her arms moved at insane speeds that basically the red streaks of light from her swords were the only thing seen while the blades cut through the mask, making the Angel cry again. With a shit eating grin, Ryuuko stopped her swinging, reared back a foot, and slammed it on the monster's mask. It soon fell apart in pieces.

Inumuta, who slowly raised himself from the ground, widened his eyes in shock, "How powerful are those scissors…? To cut through a Fallen Angel's bone with such ease…" he gaped as bits of cut mask fell down, raining on the ground… only to show a second mask! The spectacled boy was speechless, the damn monster had two freaking faces, and this new one was slowly moving up to replace the one the banchou messed up. It looked a bit like the old one, except with the long bird nose-like end.

Ryuuko for her part smirked when a shadow flew over her. "ORA!" Naruto shouted as his fist sunk into the Grimm's face, but he didn't stop there. "ORA-ORA-ORA!" As Naruto's bizarre battle cry echoed in the forest, his arms moved in a blur to punch the monster's new bony face at speeds far beyond a normal man's limits. For everyone who saw him, it was like his arms had disappeared, replaced by blurs as his fists slammed into the S-class Grimm's face like they were drops of water from a storm. Not only were Naruto's punches incredibly fast, but each of them were breaking through the bone, making cracks on the monster's mask with sickening crunches. And then, when he finished his battle cry, he stopped with his right arm reared back for the coup de grace. The instant his fist slammed the heaviest of the punches to end the match, Sachiel finally couldn't take more of the punishment and fell flat on its back.

Ryuuko grinned as she landed by the blond youth's side, "Showoff…" she said, but had to admire the blond for what he did.

Naruto stood on the monster's chest, looking down on its cracked face with a scowl before spitting on it, "You just pissed me off." He said with venom in his voice at the fallen monster.

But Sachiel was far from over. Naruto's victory was cut short when he saw the monster's face for the first time. Pale gray skin greeted him, accompanied by purple lines too similar to veins for them to not be all moving towards the eye that stared at him. Sachiel's eyes were a truly horrid sight, it was like two rings of muscle surrounded the pupil, and it moved at Naruto with hatred beyond belief. The monster raised its right arm, and from the elbow a long bone spike the size of it shot out while the claw was aimed at the still shocked Naruto. The blond backpedaled… and with a pained, breathless gasp his blood was before his eyes, flying in the air after Sachiel's bone spike shot from its claw right at his side.

Maka, Shinji, Ryuuko and even Satsuki and her friends widened their eyes what they saw, unable to make any word come out. Naruto's shirt had been torn apart from his right side, a massive gash that spilled his blood on the monster's chest. To his only luck, he had managed to avoid getting impaled through his stomach, but the agonizing pain of the cut that threatened to almost pull out his intestines was too much. Naruto collapsed on his knees, holding his sides with both hands and a grunt of indescribable pain. Sachiel reared back the spike, determined to kill the kid with his next strike.

Ryuuko snapped, she just snapped, "Get away from Naruto, you bitch!" she roared as she ran forward. It was maybe not the best time to mention it, but both Shinji and Maka noted it was the first time Ryuuko called Naruto by his name in the blond hybrid's presence. Without thinking, the girl bit the pin on her red glove and pulled it out. "If there is power in you, then please lend me your strength, Senketsu!"

Satsuki widened her eyes, "Is that…"

From the glove, pure red energy poured into Ryuuko's body. The glove glowed and soon the light extended itself all over Ryuuko's skin. It was like a second skin were covering the banchou girl, and it even took over her clothes, merging with them and the red-streaked girl's curvaceous body. Shinji did blush at the end result while Maka covered her mouth, her cheeks a shade almost as red as Ryuuko's new… could she call it a suit? It was a symbiosis what she was seeing, though, the banchou had on a second _living_ skin. It had a deep red shade, and consisted of her clothes taking a new appearance. Ryuuko wore what had to be a leotard, with hugged her crotch tightly and showed off her behind with very little clothing, almost like a thong beneath a skirt so small it barely existed. Her breasts were tightly pressed up and some cleavage was shown from the underside of her chest flesh pounds. Her shoulders and hips were bare, but her arms and legs were covered by long gloves that nearly reached her shoulders and though high, high-heeled boots. What was also worth nothing was that Ryuuko's hair had turned a bright orange, her scarf sported a yellow eye with a red iris that looked at the monster before her, and there was a strange pack on her back.

She finally caught on what she was wearing, her face redder than her new suit, "W-W-W-What the fuck?! Why is this thing so damn skimpy?!" She wanted to question a lot of things, but Naruto's grunt of pain reminded her what she needed to do, "Damn it, I'll leave the questions for later! Let's see what you can do, Senketsu!" she twirled her scissor blades and rushed at the monster just as it aimed another spear at the fox's chest to impale and destroy his heart.

The instant Sachiel's bone spear flew out, Naruto watched as it was split in two, both halves passing by his body, before the cut extended itself all the way to its arm and then to the elbow. He gasped at what he saw… well, he had been awed a bit by Ryuuko's shapely ass in his face, but he noted mostly how she had saved his life, "Ugh… what took you?" he asked, and added, "And why're you dressed like that?"

Ryuuko shook her fist at him, ignoring Sachiel's screams of pain as she roared at the blond, "Shut it! I'll try to explain things and also get some answers, but for now be grateful I'm saving your ass!" With that said, the girl raised her scissors over her head, putting them together as she looked at the orb protecting he monster's core, "Also… this bitch hurt Maka, Shinji and also you… I'm finishing this now!" With her scissors together as a broadsword, the girl roared as she swung it on the orb. Sachiel cried out loud, before its very breath died along its core when Ryuuko's slash split it wide open.

Shinji, who had finally gotten up along Maka, gaped at what he saw, "Was this… real…?" he saw Naruto's blood still dripping and panicked, "Oh no! Naruto, hold on for a minute!" he shouted as he grabbed the vial Haku gave him and tried to climb up the dead Angel. Maka followed him and grabbed him by the collar, with a single jump they were with their friends.

"Ryuuko, could you explain… and cover yourself up?" Maka asked, trying to look away from Ryuuko… the girl's breasts even tightly pressed for a good view felt like cruel humbling to the pigtailed scythe user.

Satsuki finally spoke up, "Life Dust… to think you'd really have it." She said, and the four friends noticed how she was walking to them with her scowl aimed at Ryuuko.

The banchou put the pin back in her glove, and after a flash of light she was back to normal, "So you know…"

Satsuki looked at the friends before her, and allowed them a polite bow that shocked them, "Thank you for your help. I do believe you want answers, but I won't give them away without a fight. However, I am not going to harm the ones who came to my rescue in my time of need, and less when they got hurt doing so." She said, her eyes locked with Ryuuko's. "You will need to rest."

Finally someone appeared just as Naruto drank the contents of Shinji's vial, hissing a bit as he felt his wounds close like someone were burning the wound, "Oh, good to see you're in one piece."

The group turned to, "Professor Ozpin?" Maka asked, but she could sense something off about the man.

He smiled and took a sip of his coffee, "Never has a student faced or killed an Angel… But I do believe Satsuki is right, you do need your rest." His eyes locked with the heiress, his smile still playful to tell her he knew of her little plans, "We will talk about this later but… I do believe I owe you some honor."

Naruto grunted, "What for, getting ourselves almost killed?"

Ozpin nodded, "Pretty much. After all, who would turn down students capable of surviving the attack of an S-class Grimm?"

Maka groaned, '_It's like Professor Stein all over again… well, at least he's no sadist._'

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap! So, quick answers to your questions, but if there are still questions then I'm sorry to say you'll have to wait and see until later for I do not want to spoil much:**

**1. Ryuuko is wearing the Perfect Senketsu from the last episode of Kill LA Kill, only without the big-ass shoulder eyes, with the scarf worn like when she went to the school raids, without the weird butterfly wing things, and with a leotard for a bit more modesty.**

**2. Life Dust is like Life Fibers only being, well, Dust. The trick is that it acts like a symbiotic substance, like Venom's suit from Spiderman. Senketsu will talk with Ryuuko eventually.**

**3. I wanted Ryuuko to save the day, I know in fics it's usually Naruto that does so but I felt a need to change that here. Don't worry, Naruto is plenty strong as shown here.**

**4. Yes, I'm sorry Maka and Shinji didn't get more action or ass-kicking done but do not worry, they will grow stronger and show they can kick ass by using their skills and wits. I mean, they will have to fight along Naruto and Ryuuko, not be hostages for the likes of Harime Nui.**

**5. Yes, I made a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reference with Naruto's punches and Star Platinum's battle cry.**

**6. I am having fun teasing you guys about the possible pairings within Team MSNR and other characters from all franchises in this fic. I got nothing definitive but so far it's fun.**

**If you got any more questions, I'll warn you I don't want to spoil a thing so try to be patient with me.**

**Swordslinger out!**


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